The Turtles and the Lizard
by dondena
Summary: AU: Our turtle heroes meet a lizard that comes to New York. How will things play out? Crossover. 2003 verse.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: Sorry readers, but this is not about Mona Lisa as the lizard. This is a crossover with Monsters, Inc. I'll place it in the crossover section later. I just want it to get some looks at first.**

 **I know Randall Boggs was a villain in his movie, but for some reason, he just has a look about him that he's someone who's worth redeeming. I felt that some of his talents could be even be made to help the turtles out, should he ever have met them. Randall did used to be a good guy in Monsters University, when he was young.**

 **Reviews are always welcome, but no flames please. And if anyone is familiar with both of Randall's movies, they are Monsters, Inc and Monsters University. I know not everyone is crazy about Disney characters, but at least try to give it a chance. It might be better than you think, especially once Randall joins up with the turtles.**

 **This has been fun to write. I did kind of make this an AU, where some ideas in the story are mixed up that inspiration came from some of the shows.**

 **Enjoy!**

Randall Boggs had been down in the bayou in Louisiana for over a year and he had traveled all over the bayou and even close to New Orleans. He hated being here in the human world, just trying to survive. The thought of killing himself had crossed his mind many times.

He had learned from a young age to be a loner. But, now that he was totally alone and no one around to talk to, he did crave some others to talk to. He often talked to himself out loud, though he called himself crazy for doing it.

He had moved far away from the trailer house that he had first landed in when his rivals, Mike and Sullivan had thrown him through an activated door. He still had scars on his body to remind him. He was lucky he had escaped at all. That woman had wanted to KILL him!

From what Randall had studied of these emotional retards in college, they didn't understand a lot outside their own little world and of course, were easily scared by anything they didn't understand and would take any opportunity to dig a knife in where it hurt. It was ironic that his world depended on their fears as a power source. Now he was the one running scared. The best thing he could do was avoid contact with them all together.

Randall was a survivor and he was nothing if not adaptable! He needed a plan and fast.

Randall spent most of his time now raiding their trashcans for food. Lucky for him with his ability of camouflage and climbing trees and walls came in handy. And it wasn't that difficult sneaking into their fridges either, sometimes raiding chicken coops. He had to eat to live after all.

Randall had been chased off of properties when he had been seen, but he always got away.

He had a found a backpack in the trash that stored everything useful he had found. He made sure to keep things small and only things he needed, including the six water bottles he had found intact.

When he had been seen and chased out of the human's habitats, they always seemed to refer to him as a earth type of lizard or alligator... whatever they were. Lucky though that he passed for one of these common reptilian creatures. It was a good cover story when he was chased away, but he would have always have to keep going back.

Besides scavenging for food, Randall would spend his time checking every closet he came across in the hope of getting back home. So far he had had no luck. If he didn't know any better, he would say all the closet doors in this part of the country had been destroyed. That's what he would do if he was trying to keep someone from getting home. But he had to find a way, so he could take revenge against those who put him here.

"That Wazowski and Sullivan!" He spat their names like poison. They were nothing! He was the brains! He was the smart one. He had discovered that the humans weren't toxic! He had designed and built the machine. He was going to save the company from the scream energy crisis and be the hero for all his race! …. and they had just taken it all away from him! His glory! His fame and his ideas all for themselves, leaving him here to rot, trapped in the nest with a scared and violent, selfish race of creatures that were hell bent on destroying anything not like them... or sometimes each other, for whatever reason! Heck, they even seemed to be out to destroy their own world.

Here, his race was struggling to survive while these humans just consumed and wasted all the resources they had!

It wasn't fair!

Why did Sullivan stop him from taking that human child? What resources he would have taken from the humans would have only been a fraction of what they took from everything else!

...

It was now April and spring was blooming anew. It might have been a warm winter down here in the south more than it would have been up in the northern states. Small blessings. Being cold blooded, Randall wouldn't have handled the cold weather well... but how was he supposed to survive long term? There wasn't much left for him here except a growing reputation that seemed to be attracting hunters. The possibility of him ending up in someone's trophy case was rapidly growing. Sooner or later he would have to move on.

Randall had his backpack all ready. Loaded with some food he had stolen and water. Plus his tools for hunting if needed...What he didn't have was his glasses. They had been left back in his world. How he wished he had them to help him see. Because of this, he could only travel during the day, as long as he made sure to stay out of sight.

He knew where there was a gas station in New Orleans. A big one where all the trucks stopped. He could hitch a ride on one... At this rate, he didn't care where he was going, he just had to get out. Somewhere more busy. A new town meant new children. New children meant new closets. More chances of him getting home.

All day he waited for his opportunity and soon it was near sunset. He couldn't see good, but he soon spotted a large delivery truck. The man left pushing a crate of sodas into the station, leaving the door to the truck wide open. This would be his only chance.

Being careful to watch out, Randall quickly scurried his way to the truck, sliding into the boxes. Right after finding his hiding place, he heard the truck doors close. Not knowing or caring where he was going, he was finally on his way out of here.

….

Randall had enjoyed his ride on that truck for two days, when supplies got lower, he knew he had to get out. He had eaten and drank some of the truck's supplies and packed some more for when he busted out.

The truck had headed north. He was now up in Virginia. He had been to Virginia before, but obviously never seen outside a kid's bedroom. He knew nothing about the human world other than the isolated little swamp town he had been in already. This was a whole new ball game and Randall would be lying if he said he wasn't scared. He had been at the top of his game, now he was living like a parasite in the back of a truck in an alien land... What life choices had led him here? Where had it all gone wrong?

It was incredibly noisy by the time he got the chance to slip out... way too noisy than what he was used to. Randall found himself at yet another truck stop. Well he could score another ride right here. He just needed to refill his water bottles first.

Randall spent the remainder of the day watching the truck stop from some hidden grassy spot on the edge of the truck stop. He would wait till after dark before finding a new ride.

After dark, the station was more or less empty. He used the bathroom to refill his bottles before getting ready to jump onto the next truck that stopped here. It was rather late by the time one did. Lucky for him, this was another big truck, and a dark one so it would be easy to blend against it. Randall wasn't sure if he was lucky enough to find another truck with food in it. He would just have to make do.

The lizard monster made his way over towards his new ride as the driver went to use the bathroom, walking right past him while he was in invisible mode. Randall couldn't help but stare at the man as he passed. He didn't look like the type of human that would scare very easily. In fact, he looked like one that would do the scaring. But it was the big picture drawn on his arm that caught the monster's eye. It looked odd... his entire arm had the image of some kind of purple lizard creature that looked a little like him on it!... Only it had a longer nose. Most certainly the image represented something from his world...

Maybe this human male had received a visit from a scary monster as a kid? Who knows. Either way, Randall took it as a sign that this was his ride. Where ever it was heading, Randall decided that the next stop was the best place to stake out and look for some doors. If it was a big town, it was more likely Monsters, Inc had access there.

…

The truck went more northward. This one was bound for New York City.

Randall had had a lot of time traveling, which gave him a lot of time to think. Think about his life back at home and where it had all gone wrong and what he was going to do once he got back. Two days passed by as he thought about this question. He would enjoy planning his revenge, but right now he was more worried about himself around these humans. The more he watched them, the more he feared them. How ironic.

Randall's belly rumbled. He was hungry. Almost two days without any more food. He looked around the truck. There was just large long boxes everywhere. He had no idea what was in them, but he couldn't smell food. Still curiosity got the better of him. He didn't have much else to do right now anyway except mope over how he had lost everything to a big blue hamster and a stupid green ball! What the hell right?

The purple lizard slid his way over to one, pulling out one of his sharp tools from his backpack. A long, flat sharp one he had soon pried the lid open and what the monster saw made his blood run cold... colder.

Guns! Big guns... big bazooka type guns! Monsters didn't use guns in their world. But from his human studies back in college, he knew these things were used a lot by humans... to... to kill each other... or things they were hunting. Randall had had the misfortune of being on the receiving end of a few when he was chased out of their houses. They made a loud Bang! sound when they went off that made every one of his scales flick up on end... And now he had stumbled into a place where the humans were supplying them!

And _he_ was called the monster?

Randall knew now that he was in the wrong place. He had to get out of here. Humans in his opinion were bad enough, but these were the worse types. Those who handled weapons like this were the most dangerous because they didn't think twice about hurting innocent people...like... like he was going to do with that little human girl... Randall shook his head pushing the troubling thoughts out of his mind. He had to think about the here and now.

He went for the truck door, but it was sealed from the outside. He was stuck there until they got to New York! Great! Just great!

….

Some hours later when the truck did start to slow down, Randall readied himself to make a break for it. High up, holding to the side, he could scurry out onto the roof when they opened the doors. If he could just hold his camouflage until he got a good distance away - ?

The truck stopped and before he heard the driver get out, the door flew open and Randall saw the biggest giant gorilla human he had ever seen! His eyes widened in shock and he flinched away at the sight of him, glad that he couldn't be seen. This man too had a purple lizard like... well like 'him' marked on his arm... but for some reason now that didn't give him much comfort. It seemed to be the mark of something that looked like him meant something bad here.

The giant man then started shouting orders for the truck to be unloaded. Men instantly started flooding into the truck. Randall was getting cornered, trying to stop himself from getting knocked about by the boxes. He had to get out of here! He could easily get away if it was just himself, but he needed his backpack of supplies too, and unlike him, they were NOT invisible. As soon as he started moving, even if it was fast, someone would see a bag moving by itself... oh he should have thought this out better.

He would have to make a run for it.

Randall listened to voices on the outside the truck. He only had a chance holding onto the ceiling of the compartment. Once the next set of boxes were out of his way, he would have a clear run to get up onto the roof.

The forklift truck appeared quickly making a way for him. The only thing that could be seen was his pack floating along the top of the boxes in the air.

"Hey, what's that?" Randall heard someone say, but he didn't slow down.

"Hey! Stop!" The man yelled.

"What are you yelling at Spike?" Another PD asked. "Hun's going to kill you if this shipment isn't unloaded on time."

"But... but I just saw a backpack. It was floating! It just went over the top of the truck." He said, almost mortified.

"Yeah, right. Maybe the truck's haunted." The other one laughed. The one called Spike sneered, but just went back to work. Curious, but not much he could do about it now.

Randall's spotter looked around and saw the pack had disappeared. It had moved fast. There was no sense in trying to catch it now. He went back to work, but longed to know what it was.

Randall had run so hard and he had climbed up to a building to get away. In relative safety, he finally let himself be seen again. He put his pack down to catch his breath behind a workshop house on the roof.

He was glad that he was out of that truck. When he caught his breath and looked around, from the noise around him and the buildings, he knew he was in a big city somewhere. He had just wanted to get out of that nasty bayou. He would find out where he was.

The buildings looked to be pretty close together, so even he could jump them. He remembered his jumping in the door chase back at Monsters, Inc, chasing his enemies down.

He began his move into the city. He took it slow so he could look around and be safe.

Night was beginning to settle in as the sun had just gone down. Randall knew he would need to find a place to stay for the night. Taking these rooftops might be dangerous in the dark.

He jumped over ten rooftops before finding a roof that had a water tower on it and he climbed up to it. This would be a satisfying lair for the night anyway. He would work on a real lair later, but right now, he had to explore this big city. He needed a map.

He had been used to sleeping in trees, and sleeping on this wooden floor was almost no different.

He was later woken up by a thunderstorm towards dawn. He had slept a good portion of the night away. At least he had shelter from this storm.

Down in the bayou, he hadn't always had shelter to escape to during the heavy storms like the hurricanes.

Randall was so tired from traveling that he made sure the coast was clear and he went back to sleep. He wasn't going to travel out in that. He was just so glad to have shelter for a change. Storms and cold rain didn't always agree with him. He could get sick easily.

It rained throughout the day. Randall did refill his water bottles with the rain water. It gave him something to do when he was up. He hoped for a better tomorrow to get further away from here.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, the sunshine had returned and Randall gathered up his supplies and, sticking to the rooftops, began to move deeper into the city. He would look down below to make sure there weren't humans looking up. He was mostly jumping over the buildings over the alleys, so there might be less chances of being seen.

Soon, he came to the Chinatown area and there were all sorts of sights and smells.

Using his forked tongue, Randall could get a taste of the delicious smelling food. It was near lunchtime right at this time and the smell, combined with having had no breakfast made Randall's stomach growl.

He put his pack down on the roof and looked over the side to see if there was any food worth taking. He had no money on him. If he was back in his world, he would gladly pay for his food, but with his current lifestyle, he had to steal to eat.

He saw a hot dog vender on the corner. At least what he could make out. Turning invisible, he climbed down the building ever so slowly to make sure that humans weren't around. He watched the vender serve some customers, then they moved on. He was on the lowest floor outside the building.

Now that the customers were gone, the sidewalk was a little quieter so he got on the ground and made his way on all eights, to the stand. The vender walked away for a moment. This was a good chance.

Randall stood up on all four feet, opened up the lid to the stand and he found warm hot dogs in there. He looked around and quickly grabbed two length cords of hot dogs then turned and aimed to go back to the rooftop. He got to the alley and wrapped them around his neck. They felt good on his skin. He held the end of one in his mouth and he climbed back up, lucky not to have been spotted.

When he got to the top, he unblended himself and he went over to a wall next to his pack and ate the juicy morsels. He found the hot dogs to be good. They reminded him a little bit like some back in his world. He was so hungry that he ate both cords of them. They would have to keep him full for a while. Once he was done, he moved on.

As he continued to make his way across the rooftops, he was moved a bit by the festivities and how many people he was seeing down below on the streets. But there was no way he was going to go down there and even try to move among them. He knew how dangerous they were.

Randall preferred city life compared to the country. He had always been a city dweller and this place was fascinating to him. All the lights and color and tall buildings. He had seen several humans on the streets of New Orleans, but not as many as there were in New York.

If he stayed close to the food places, he could easily sneak in and out with his invisibility. That way he wouldn't have to worry as much about starvation. But, he had to be careful too that he wasn't seen or his items weren't just seen floating in the air.

But he wasn't going to stay in one place too long. Chinatown was beautiful, but he just wanted a place that might not be so crowded with humans. But, it was like that all over this big city.

Randall traveled over ten more buildings before his full stomach said it was time for a little nap. It was overwhelming in this city. He found another of those wooden hideouts and made it into a temporary lair. He got comfortable and tried to fall asleep. Fatigue won out over the noise around him.

He slept until well close to nightfall. He was so worn out, both from the truck travel and all the exploring and jumping. And now it was time for dinner. He had slept off his lunch.

He walked outside and some of the chaos from the day was winding down a bit more, but was still busy enough that he had to be careful. He would wait until after dark before he snuck down and tried to find some dinner. First, he wanted to find a place that looked like a promising site to get it from.

He soon found a pizza place. The smells were so strong it was like Heaven. Just a little longer and he would eat. He was fortunate that there was no shortage of food places in this city.

He waited until after dark and snuck down. Randall went in the back way in the alley. He eyed some finished pizzas that had been ordered and just finished from the oven. One was put into a fresh box.

The chef heard the oven go off and he put the box down. This must have been take out. Randall was watching. Now it was his take out.

Randall moved fast to the table, grabbing the box and ran out the door.

The chef heard the door open. "Hello?" He asked but didn't hear anything more. He went back to work, but moments later found the box was gone.

Randall got back to the rooftop and opened the box. Inside was a meat lover's pizza. Just his kind of food, being mainly a meat eater. He gulped it down in almost no time and threw the box away in the dumpster below. Now to move on again.

He soon came to a newspaper vendor stand. When it was a quiet time there, he snuck down again and got a paper to read. His eyes widened when he saw it was the New York Times. So, he was in New York City. Great place so far, if a little overwhelming.

He put the paper in his pack and moved on some more. By nine o'clock, he had made it to the lower east side, down by the docks. Maybe there was a place around here where he could find a place to call his own. But warehouses were too risky.

Randall began looking for another one of those water tower houses for another night of sleep, but he heard some sounds that he had never heard before. It sounded like yelling and metal clashing nearby. Wanting to make sure that he wasn't in immediate danger, he went to investigate the sounds.

He soon found the source of the sounds and he saw a major battle taking place on the rooftops. He got to a roof two tops over. He decided that he was going keep his distance, but moved in close enough to try to make out what was going on.

He heard yelling and some screaming. And more so, metal clashing.

At one point, a bright light glinted at him from the moonlight. It was a full moon. Randall could somewhat make out some weird shapes on that rooftop. And humans dressed in black. Ninjas.

The weird shapes soon had the ninjas beat. They did a victory high five or so he thought.

"Come on guys. Let's get out of here while they're down." Randall heard. This had been a soft, but firm leader like voice.

Randall saw the shapes take off in the other direction. They weren't like any humans he had ever seen before. They had struck his curiosity. He had to find out about them. He jumped the rooftops and followed them.

As he did chase them, he found that they were fast for ones who ran on two legs. But he still kept his distance. Humans he thought weren't this athletic. But under the moonlight, he did soon make out that their backs looked bigger too. When he did see them stop for a time, he got closer and saw that they weren't human at all.

They were some kind of shelled creatures. Was it possible they were monsters too? He had just never heard of them before.

"That was a snap to take those Foot geeks down." One of them said in a kind of scratchy voice.

Randall had noticed different color bands around their eyes now. Blue, purple, red, and orange. It had been the orange one who had spoken.

"Don't get cocky, Mikey. They've been getting tougher these days." The one in blue said.

When Randall heard that name, it instantly made him think of his old ex college roommate. Back when he called him by his first name instead of his last name.

"We should head home guys. That fight took it out of me." Purple said in a soft voice.

"I'd be up for more Foot bashin'," Red said.

"You're always are ready to pound them, Raph." Orange, or Mikey, said.

To Randall, he wondered what kind of a name was Raph. So that was Raph and Mikey.

"It's a movie marathon when we get home!" Mikey shouted.

Mikey had the energy of a little kid. Too excitable.

"Keep it down, Mikey, or you're going to draw in more Foot." Purple said.

"Sorry, Don. I've just been looking forward to it all week." Mikey said.

Purple was called Don then, as Randall listened. That just left the blue one. He saw they also had weapons on them. Don had a staff on his back and the blue one had swords. Raph had what looked like three prong knives. And Mikey had sticks on a chain. Randall didn't know the names of those weapons.

"Or we all could have some training practice when we get home." Blue said.

"Ah, come on, Leo. We just had a major battle with the Foot. We need time for ourselves at home." Mikey said.

And Blue was Leo. Leo, Don, Raph, and Mikey. At least they didn't have names based on the color of their masks. Randall decided to follow them. They jumped over more rooftops and eventually headed down to an alley. He watched from above as he saw them lift a sewer lid and they went underground.

Randall remembered what it was like to work in the basement of the Monsters, Inc factory and it was like living and working in a sewer. But he really didn't want to follow them down to the stinky sewers. He would wait up here for them.

He found a water tower nearby and went to it and got comfortable for the night. This was something to look forward to. He was tired of being alone. But he would observe before making any moves to join them.

….

Over the next few days, when the turtles did happen to come out of that sewer section, he followed them. Sometimes it was just two of them.

He saw there were junkyard trips, stops at a human's apartment and he could see them in the window, interacting with a redhead human woman. He couldn't believe they were able to interact with a human and not get attacked. And he thought all humans were dangerous.

Randall saw that indeed, these beings looked reptilian to him. But so different too. He got a better look at them in the light. He saw their skin was all green, but different shades. Good ways to tell them apart aside from weapons and masks.

Randall had settled down near one of the sewer lids near the human's home. He saw the store was called the 2nd Time Around. It had some nice things in it, but it wasn't a food store. He had to go further downtown to find something. But he made his way back to the human's home.

Whenever the turtles came up above and went to the home, Randall would end up following them. One of these days, he would have to follow them down in the sewers. He could see why they would live down there. It was the only safe place from humans, usually.

As for the turtles, Leo had begun to get suspicions that someone was following them. He had felt a presence from a short distance away for days now. He would look and see nothing though. He had become more uptight and his brothers had noticed.

"Come on, Leo, there's nothin' there." Raph said.

"I don't know, Raph. I have this feeling like there's something out there, following us." Leo said.

Randall was either hiding or he was invisible when following them. He might have been getting a little too close now.

Tonight, it was Leo and Raph on patrol. Randall knew he needed to back off a bit. Soon, he saw that they were also joined by a male human, wearing a weird almost skull like mask.

Casey Jones was ready for action.

Randall saw the three of them go to the middle of the city and they found a Purple Dragon break in at a jewelry store.

Hun was not with them, but he had ordered it or they were doing this for the pure pleasure of it.

Leo, Raph, and Casey started breaking it up. They all got split up. There were some big tough ones in the group tonight.

Randall had managed to get down to the building and he was observing the battle. He got on the ceiling and snuck inside, but still kept a distance invisibly.

At one time, Leo was tossed into a wall and the wind was knocked out of him. His swords were still in his hands. The Dragon that had thrown him was coming at him with a sledge hammer in his hands.

Randall growled and knew this wasn't good. He dropped down from the ceiling and using his own stealth, and with his tail, he tripped up the human, making him cry out as he fell over.

Leo looked up just in time to see the man fall over backwards and the hammer went flying. The man was unconscious, and Raph nor Casey had caused it to happen.

Randall ran further from the incident after he had stopped Leo from getting killed.

Leo still had a feeling like something or someone was watching, but that someone had just saved his shell. They must have because these creeps didn't go down without a fight and not so easily.

Leo told Raph and Casey on the way home after cops had shown up to arrest the Dragons in the store after they had all been taken down. Raph and Casey knew how Leo seemed to have a sixth sense at times, like Master Splinter.

"Just keep on a lookout then." Raph said.

"Could a Foot ninja be watching ya?" Casey asked.

"I hope not." Leo said.

Randall knew he would have to make his presence known soon. Especially if one of them was sensing he was around close by.


	3. Chapter 3

Some few nights later, Mikey had been forced to leave the lair because his pranking was getting on everyone's nerves.

Randall had started staying up more at night so he could possibly spend more time observing the turtles. This night, he saw Mikey head into the human's, he now knew as April, home.

April helped to calm him down and got him out of his funk. It made him feel better and after watching a movie with her, she went to bed and Mikey headed home.

As Mikey made his way to the nearest entrance to the sewers he ran into Hun and some Foot soldiers.

"What do we have here? A freak that needs to be taught a lesson." Hun mocked the young turtle.

Mikey knew he was outnumbered, but he took out his nunchakus and he began to twirl them. "No, I'm good. I've been taught many lessons by my brothers." Mikey said with a grin.

Hun let the ninjas try to take the turtle down first before he would get his turn. He preferred to wait until they were weaker so he would have a greater advantage. He would let the others have their fun first, but the turtle was still beating them.

Hun called for some back up and more ninjas showed up and Mikey took off. He knew he couldn't risk leading them back to the lair.

Randall had seen it and taken off after him from a distance. He was curious to know what was going on.

When Mikey was once again cornered, he managed to barely beat the ninjas. Then it was Hun's turn to fight and he was ready to pound the goofy one to pieces. Mikey was looking a little exhausted.

Randall saw the size of the human that was getting closer to the turtle. He was nearly as big as Sullivan. If he himself could take on Sullivan, surely, he could take on this behemoth too.

Randall vanished and with the other humans down, he could manage.

Mikey was so tired from fighting that he had fallen on the rooftop and he was seeing the giant evil man advancing on him. He was sure Hun meant to end him. Sometimes it seemed like his family wanted him gone anyway.

Suddenly, Hun fell over and cried out when he lost his footing. He had felt something whip his legs. He got up, but was somehow pushed hard enough to knock him down. Eventually, he was pushed over the side of the building and into the alley dumpster.

Mikey had looked on, awestruck. Something was attacking Hun. Something he couldn't see. He went over to see Hun down in the dumpster, unconscious.

"It's a cinch when they can't see you." A soft like, but a little rough voice suddenly said out of nowhere.

Mikey turned around in a panic. "Who's there?"

"Me, kid." Randall appeared.

"Whoa!" Mikey was startled and fell over again. "Who are you?" he asked.

Randall moved in a little closer. "I've been watching you green guys for a little while. My name is Randall Boggs." He said.

"So, Leo was right. Someone was watching us. I'm Michelangelo, but I'm called Mikey by my family."

"Yes. I 've been watching you. I wanted to know if you guys were anything like me. I could see you all were different from the humans and yet, hang out with them and fight them." Randall said.

"We don't have many human friends. Just a few. They would see us as monsters." Mikey said.

"Hence, what I am."

"That was you, fighting off Hun?"

"Yes."

"You don't seem like a monster to me if you saved me from Hun and the Foot."

"Foot? What are you talking about?"

"The ninjas. They're called the Foot clan. They serve the Shredder. He's a deadly enemy. It's almost impossible to beat him."

Randall wasn't sure if he'd want to meet him anytime soon.

"So, uh, Randall, is it? Let's get out of here before these goons come around."

Mikey got up and he and Randall left the spot.

Mikey was glad to show Randall around the city. It was more fun when there was someone who knew their way around.

Randall did learn that Mike's brothers were named Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael for their long names. And about their father, Master Splinter, though he hadn't seen him yet.

"Leo's our leader, considered the oldest and he acts like it too. Raph's the hothead one. He's hitting me on the head all the time when he doesn't like what I do." Randall flinched at that. He knew what it was like to be hit hard on the head with a shovel. "And Don's probably the calmest of us all. He's the brainiac of the group." Mikey explained.

"What's your role?"

"I'm the youngest. It's my job to make sure they lighten up and have fun sometimes. And I do most of the cooking."

"That sounds good right now."

"Sure. I could get us some pizza." Mikey said.

"That's fine."

Mikey nabbed some pizza, leaving some money for the delivery guy.

"I've been living on my own for so long I've forgotten what it's like to talk to someone." Randall said as he ate his pizza.

"You don't seem too bad at it." Mike said.

Randall looked at him. This kid had no idea how lonely it was. He had no family to go home to. No one that cared about him. At least this turtle was lucky to have a family.

When they were done, Mikey said, "I need to get home. We have training in the morning. You are welcome to come home with me."

"Uh, no thanks. I'll stay up here." Randall said. He wasn't quite ready to go to the sewers yet.

"Okay. I'll come up tomorrow night and we can hang out if that's what you want." Mikey said.

"Sure."

"Great. Till tomorrow." Mikey said happily and they went to a location near April's and Mikey descended to the sewer while Randall stayed in his water tower. At least Randall had now made his presence known to one of the turtles. But before too long, he planned to show himself to the others too.

….

Mike's brothers barely acknowledged him when he got home.

Don was still in his lab, Leo was meditating and Raph was working on his bike. Splinter was in bed.

Mikey was happy he had made a new friend. And this one would be more likely to stick and could even become part of the family. He was reptile anyway. He couldn't wait for tomorrow night. He was the first one to go to bed that night.

Leo made sure that Don went to bed and he checked on Mikey last. He had felt his presence when he came home. At least he knew he was safe.

The next morning, Mikey seemed happier than usual and he didn't try to annoy his brothers for a change. They were happy for that, but it seemed strange.

All day, Mikey couldn't stop thinking about Randall. He wanted to know more about him. Randall had saved his life after all.

….

Randall had been glad to have made contact with another reptile like himself, but Mike's energy was a little much for him. Though he had scared children, he had never understood them. That could have also stemmed from him never knowing who his parents were.

But he was determined to make contact with the others too. From what Mike had said, Leo was the one he really had to make the call with, as the leader. And their father, Master Splinter.

When Mikey came up to the water tower that night, he looked around for Randall.

"Randall, are you here?"

"Yeah, I'm here." Randall stepped out of the tower and climbed down the bars on all eights, not bothering with the ladder.

"Wow! You didn't use the ladder!" Mikey was amazed.

"I don't have to. My fingers and toes on my feet can grip walls so I can keep out of trouble."

"We turtles have to rely on these sucker cups to help us climb walls." Mikey pulled out a suction cup. "Or these spiked ones." Then he pulled out a shuko glove.

Randall saw the spikes resembled claws. Well, with the right tools, even the turtles could climb walls.

"So, Randall, where are you from?" Mike asked.

Randall needed to come up with something to tell him. "I did recently come from Louisiana. But, I hated that swamp."

"I think it would be great to live down there. It doesn't get too cold and Leatherhead would probably even like it down there."

"Who's Leatherhead?"

"Our crocodile friend. He's an awesome guy. He's a scientist like Don. You'll get to meet him sometime."

Randall was a little weary of hearing the word crocodile.

"What happened to your face, if I might ask?"

"You mean my scar? I was hit in the head with a shovel."

"Ouch!"

"I nearly lost my life from the old woman who did this to me!" Randall growled.

"I'm so sorry. I know what it's like to be hated and having to stay away from humans. It hurts. I would love to have a whole lot of friends." Mikey said.

Randall remembered when he was a kid that he had wanted a lot of friends too. And the 'cool kids' turned out to not be friends at all, just bullies. They had been the wrong crowd for him. He had been taken advantage of and manipulated all his life. Here was someone who seemed to understand, but he still needed to have his limits on how much he said.

"Are you sure you don't want to come home with me? I could teach you more things there."

"I'm not real eager to go to the sewers."

"It's a lot safer down there for us compared to up here. The Foot clan could ambush us or worse." Mike said. He had a point.

"Alright, but I must remain a secret a little longer."

"You got it, dude."

Randall got his supply pack and put it on and he followed Mikey to a sewer lid. The turtle took the lid off and let Randall down first before going down himself.

Randall did go down the ladder normally this time and waited for Mikey at the bottom. When Mikey got to the bottom, he began to lead the way. Randall looked around the sewers as they went along.

They were nice, big sewers, but there was definitely plenty of garbage in the water that flowed through them too. Humans sure were wasteful, where back in his world, many monsters also ate the garbage.

It was quite the trek through the sewers, but they soon arrived back at the entrance to the lair. Mikey pressed a button and the lair's door started to go up. Light began to flood the area. Randall quickly vanished. He did manage to see a large open space.

"This way… Randall?" Mike saw his friend was gone.

"I'm here. Just pretend I'm not here. Just show me where I'll stay and I'll take care of myself." Randall said in a low voice.

"It's cool how you can disappear."

"Talk later. And yeah, it is. It's a reflex often enough to avoid danger."

Mike walked in and headed to his room. "This is my room." He said.

Randall got inside and he reappeared. It was a large, spacious room. The bed looked like it was up high. Mikey's room was a little messy.

"Most guests usually tend to sleep on the couch or here in my room. Then I often have to share rooms with Raph, and he snores like a chainsaw." Mikey said.

That managed to make Randall smile.

"You try sleeping in his room."

"No, thanks."

"You'll see what I mean later."

"So, how do I get my food then?" Randall asked.

"I'll bring you some. My family knows I like to eat a lot. As long as I don't take their food, they don't care." Mike said. "I'll go see what we have."

Mike went to the kitchen to get some leftover pizza out of the fridge. He brought it to his room and Randall was glad to eat it.

Raphael had seen Mike sneaking pizza and just thought he was eating it. Pizza was his baby bro's favorite food after all. He shook his head and went about his business. He was about to lift some weights.

Randall finished the rest of the pizza. But Mikey had eaten three pieces.

After their little dinner, Mikey began to show Randall his comic book collection.

As he showed him the comics on the Justice Force, he said, "They really do exist and they are my friends. Especially the Silver Sentry. Course, they are friends with my family too."

"And, they are humans."

"Yes, but at least they don't treat us like freaks. They all have their own special talents. I once saved Silver Sentry from the evil Dr. Malignus." He went on to explain the tale and how they became allies and friends.

Mikey also went on to explain other adventures he and his family had. His family even went to bed before him, though Leo told him to go to bed.

"I have training in the morning."

"School training?"

"No, ninja training."

Mikey gave him a spare mattress to sleep on. It had been a long time since he had slept on a mattress. He watched Mike climb to his bed and he was out like a light in seconds.

And just as Mikey had said before, Randall could hear loud snoring down the way. It was kind of funny. Randall settled down on the mattress to give it a try. It was comfortable, but he was too curious about the lair before he could settle down.

He snuck out quietly to explore the lair. It was one huge place.

He found the kitchen, bathroom, each bedroom, and the lab and workshop. Then he went back to Mikey's room to get some sleep.

 **Note: This is the 2003 verse, but how events play out in this story at times could be based off the shows too and I'm calling this an AU verse. Things could get mixed up compared to the shows. Just letting everyone know. I hope you all are enjoying this story.**

 **Reviews always make the story better too.**


	4. Chapter 4

The alarm clock going off in the morning instantly woke Randall up. But Mikey was kind of a heavy sleeper.

"Hey! Your clock is going off!" Randall shouted. He put the pillow over his head. He hadn't heard an alarm clock in some time and he knew how annoying they could be.

"Hey!" He shouted again. That did it.

Randall got off the mattress and climbed up to Mikey's level. "Hey! Wake up!" When the turtle didn't stir, it gave him an idea. He took one of his hands and hit Mikey real hard on the shoulder.

"Ahh! Ahh!" Mikey was up in an instant.

"I told you to wake up! Your clock is going off." Randall said beside him.

Mikey looked to his right and the purple lizard was right beside him, hanging on the wall. He then reached over and turned off his clock. So the strange lizard he had dreamt about wasn't a dream after all.

"What's the point of the clock if you don't wake up to it?"

"Leo insisted on it. I'm just a heavy sleeper." Mikey said.

"Yeah, well, I'm not."

"My brothers usually end up waking me up for training."

"Well, if I stay in here, I'm going to be the one waking you up if I hear that clock go off."

"That might be a good idea, Randall. It'll save my brothers the trouble." Mikey said.

"You need to be responsible for getting yourself up on time for things. If you were in school, you'd be in trouble just for being late."

"I do get in trouble when I'm late for practice."

"Fine, maybe just for a little while. But once I'm accepted here, I'm not going to be doing it all the time." Randall climbed back down.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Randall vanished. Mikey was beginning to come down his ladder.

"Mikey, time to get up." It was Leo. He came into the room and saw Mikey already up.

"Morning, Leo." Mikey said with a smile.

"Morning, Mikey. Time for training." Leo was surprised Mikey was already up.

Mikey got his gear on and grabbed his weapons and headed out. Leo followed. The door was left open.

Randall reappeared and he snuck out when the coast was clear. He heard an old man's voice and he peered around the corner. From what his vision could make out from this distance, he saw four green forms and a gray one in brown clothes. This must have been their adoptive father that Mikey had told him about.

Splinter explained what they were going to do and then he paired the turtles up to do the moves. Raph and Mikey. Leo and Don.

Randall vanished and got closer, but higher. He climbed a pillar closer to their training area.

He could make out that while they were training, Randall's hearing was good. He could hear Mikey making fun of Raph, and it was making Raph lose his temper. The red banded turtle lost his temper in the end with the orange wearing one and it made him lose the match.

Mikey knew how to fight smart. He laughed at his older brother's failure. But it didn't stop Raph from trying to get back at him.

He did get a hold of Mikey and he pinned him down when he got a hold of him. He was ready to pound his head in.

"Raph, stop!" Mikey cried out.

Raph was so enraged that Leo had to step in. "Raph! Have you lost your mind?" He had his arm pinned behind him.

Raph then realized what he had almost done. "Mikey, guys, I'm sorry."

Leo released him.

"Raphael, you should not let anger control you. You must learn to accept failure with humility when it comes to your brothers." Splinter said.

"I know, but Mikey just pushed my buttons." Raph replied.

Randall had heard the wise wisdom too. Perhaps there was something to be learned here.

Mikey got up.

"Michelangelo, you should know better than to get Raphael so worked up." Splinter said.

"I do, I just like to play around with him when he just ignores me most of the time."

"There are better ways to get him to pay attention to you than making him mad." Leo said.

"Yeah, I'm mad at you enough." Raph said.

"Now this training session is over." Splinter said. "And we are going to move on to defense move training."

The boys all knew that training was exhausting, but it helped to know all those moves for their self defenses.

Randall watched and listened as Splinter went on to name certain moves and the turtles did each move with big battle cries. They were definitely high jumpers.

When they were done, the turtles all collapsed from exhaustion. It took the boys a little longer to move.

After that, they all went to the kitchen for breakfast. The workouts had worked up appetites. Randall was hungry too, but he wasn't ready to reveal himself just yet. He followed them and could smell the food as Mikey made pancakes.

Mike had said he would bring food to Randall. But Randall was so used to stealing his food. He could maybe sneak in, but it was too risky right now. He would wait. He was going to give Mike a chance.

The family dove right into the pancakes when they were done. They were so good.

Just watching the others eat was making Randall even hungrier. His stomach gave off a good loud growl, making him place his lower hands on it. He was on the ceiling peeking in right now. He was still invisible.

Splinter's ears perked up. He thought he heard something.

Don noticed his father straightening up. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"I thought I heard something." Splinter replied, cautious.

It made all the turtles stiffen too. Mikey had a nervous feeling he knew what it was. It had to be Randall. Or the cat, Klunk.

"Michelangelo, go check to make sure your cat is not causing trouble." Splinter said.

"Yes, Sensei." Mike said. He left the kitchen.

Randall left and ran back to the room.

Mikey reached his room and he found Randall there. "Was that you out there?"

"It might have been."

"Master Splinter can pick up on and hear things better than we can. So you need to be more careful."

"He said you have a cat?"

"Yeah. Klunk's around here somewhere."

"Klunk?"

"That's what I named him. I found him on Christmas night a couple years ago. He has the whole run of the lair."

Randall wasn't too fond of cats. But if he was going to stay here, he would have to tolerate the cat.

"I'll bring you some breakfast after they all leave the table, I promise." Mikey said. Then he left the room.

Mikey did find Klunk in the chair in the living room. He was sleeping and not causing trouble. He went back to the kitchen.

"Found him. He's in the chair in the living room. What noise you heard wasn't him." Mikey said. "It might have been just a stray rat running through."

"Maybe." Splinter said.

Leo had been watching intensely too. He really hoped that strange feeling of someone watching them out in public hadn't followed them to their lair. If it did, then they could be in trouble.

After breakfast, the family all broke up to go do their own things and Mikey, as promised, made more pancakes and brought some to Randall.

While Randall was eating, Mikey got curious. "So, where's your family?"

Randall froze.

"I don't have one. No parents or siblings. Never knew them. I was an orphan." Randall said simply.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I've learned the only one I can count on is me."

"True, but sometimes you need the love and support of others just to get certain jobs done."

"I've never had a fulfilling loving relationship in my life. I was always the geek who was taken advantage of and picked on." Randall said sadly.

"My brothers may pick on me too, but they always stand up for me from dangerous enemies. My dad even once took a blow for me from the Shredder."

Randall took another bite and he asked, "Who is this guy?"

"He's not even a human. He's an alien Utrom."

Randall nearly choked on his pancake. He swallowed it and said, "What? An alien?"

"Yeah, we were shocked too when we found out the Shredder's biggest secret. He was so tough to kill and then we found out why. He had such thick armor on, he was nearly impossible to kill." Mikey explained.

"Have you guys killed before?"

"Not on purpose. If we ever do, it's in the heat of battle only."

Randall realized that even though these beings fought, they didn't intentionally fight to kill. But then, good guys didn't usually.

"Thanks for the food, Kid." Randall gave the dish back.

Mikey took the plate back out to the kitchen.

Randall wanted to consider himself good, but he was just so severely misunderstood. He had tried to do something good for the monster world and it was all Sullivan's fault for messing up his plans.

He could have made a name for himself in his own world should his plans have succeeded. He could have been recognized as a savior of the city. But it hadn't worked out that way. He still deeply hated Sullivan and Wazowski for illegally banishing him.

But here he was in a new life and around different beings now. He would have to make the best of his situation.


	5. Chapter 5

Over the next week, Randall relied on Mikey to bring him his food during the day and he also woke Mikey up for training in the mornings when the clock went off and he didn't hear it.

His family was noticing something different about Mikey, and there was something different about the lair. Leo and Splinter sensed there was something else here, but what? They would look around and find nothing.

They weren't hurt or anything, but in the morning, they would notice some food items were missing. They thought it was because Mikey might be having midnight munchies. Mikey always got that blame. Mike said he didn't do it.

Randall had been taking some things from the fridge at night. It was part of his plan to get the family to notice something was different in here. But he wasn't doing anything to plan to hurt them.

After more than a week, Don was up working late on something for the security system for the lair. He decided to take a break. His family had let him work tonight.

He went toward the kitchen to get something to drink and just as he stepped into the entrance, there was a giant lizard standing at the fridge with the door open.

"Hey!" Don said.

Randall gasped and he instantly vanished.

"Who are you?" Don asked, but he heard nothing.

"Are you still here?"

Randall had made it out of the room and back to Mikey's.

Don was nervous and he took out his bo. "If you are dangerous, we can be too." But he sensed the room was empty. What he had seen made him nervous, if that creature was what was raiding their food. How did it ever get past their security?

Don instantly got everyone up. He wouldn't wake everyone up unless it was an emergency.

Mikey yawned. "What's going on, Don? A turtle needs his beauty sleep."

"Guys. As you have been sensing something secretive going on in here and out there, I have to say that I saw a strange lizard in the kitchen a bit ago. It's never been detected by my security."

"Could it have been sent by the Foot?" Raph asked. He was on alert about it if it was.

"I hope not. Then we are in trouble." Don said. He swallowed that this creature wasn't one of their creations. He had vanished just as fast a Foot Tech ninja could.

"We must find this lizard and know what it wants." Splinter said. "Keep on the lookout for it, my sons."

Mikey knew exactly who he was talking about. But he swore he would watch out. He went back to his room and talked to Randall.

"They know about you now. But Donny is the only one whose seen you." Mikey said.

"I know. I'm making myself be known slowly. But I'll be willing to meet them soon." Randall said.

Randall continued to leave little clues. He was just doing playful little pranks.

Taking their weapons and placing them in unusual places. Still taking food out and eating it. The turtles didn't like it too well, but Mikey was impressed by it. Those were things he did, but to his brothers, not his father.

Randall had managed to take Splinter's favorite tea to the bathroom. Raph had found it there. Splinter had been ticked. Now this lizard was taking his things too.

It was amazing how it was never seen. All the family was paranoid now except Mikey. He was often giggling with Randall in his room behind their backs. Mikey wasn't organizing it, but he was impressed with Randall's pranks.

"This has been fun, Randall, but maybe it's time you were really introduced to them." Mikey said. "I hate being blamed for things I didn't do."

"Yeah. I just wanted them to sense my presence before I showed myself to them."

…

After dinner the following night, Mikey approached his family, who were watching the news for anything of an escaped lizard on the loose. Don had even asked April if she could find anything.

"Guys." Mikey spoke up. "I have something to say."

"We're trying to find out if there's a lizard that escaped from somewhere." Leo said.

"You won't find him on the news, guys." Mikey said.

The others turned to him. "Do you know something of this lizard, Michelangelo?" Splinter asked.

"Yes, I do."

"No wonder you've been acting so weird lately." Raph said. "You think these incidents are funny."

"Because they aren't happening to me, but no. And I'm not doing them. Guys, I have something to tell you. I met the lizard and brought him here. He saved me one night from the Foot clan and Hun was about to clobber me. He stopped him." Mikey explained.

"So where is he then?" Raph demanded.

"Right here." Randall said as he appeared before them.

Their eyes all widened. He was standing right behind Mikey.

"The pranks were all my doing and it was never meant to cause harm, just to let you be aware of me being here." Randall said.

"Who are you?" Leo demanded firmly.

"Randall. Randall Boggs." Randall introduced himself.

They all noticed that Randall had more arms and legs than a typical lizard. And he stood upright. Plus he talked. And although there were chameleons that could blend, they couldn't go completely invisible.

"Where are you from?" Don asked.

"Louisiana last time I checked, but where else is my business only."

"You weren't made by the Foot to track us down, were you?" Raph demanded.

"No. I've never associated with humans. I hate them."

"We have human friends. You hurt them and you will have trouble." Raph growled.

"I talked to him about our friends, guys. April and Casey haven't been down here for awhile, but they come down sometimes. He'd be willing to meet them, but he just meant that he had bad experiences with them down in the Louisiana swamps." Mike said.

"Yeah, like being hit in the head with a shovel. I've also been shot at and chased off. I just don't trust them." Randall said.

"It's easy to understand that. We've have had our share of not being understood by humans too. That is why we remain down here, for our safety. We can't have anything compromise that. Do you understand, Mr. Boggs?" Splinter stated.

"Yes, uh, Splinter is it?"

"Yes."

"I promise I won't do anything that would be dangerous to bring humans to the lair. I avoid them."

Splinter saw the lizard was sincere, but there was something about him that he sensed was off. He hoped this lizard wasn't dangerous.

"So what are you?" Don asked.

"A lizard monster."

"Are there more of your kind?"

"No, not here."

Don began to ask more questions. Randall tried to answer them, but if anything were to betray his world to them, he just wouldn't answer or say he didn't know. He knew they weren't yet ready for the truth behind of why he was really here in the first place.

Given that the answers he gave the family were satisfactory enough for now, Mikey then offered Randall a full meal as part of the family. Randall accepted.

Mike and Randall walked off to the kitchen.

"What do you think of him, Father?" Leo asked.

"There just seems to be something about him that is off. Just watch him carefully, my sons." Splinter said. "Even if he is not with the Foot, he could have been a trouble maker elsewhere too."

"We will." Leo said. "Even I don't completely trust him."

"He betta' not take my blades again or he will get it." Raph said.

"I think he understands now, Raph." Don said.

"Whatever." Raph then went to go lift weights.

Don went back to his lab and Leo went to meditate with his father before bed. They weren't going to go on patrol tonight to welcome their new guest.

Mikey cooked up some salmon and hamburger for Randall. "I'm not much of a vegetable eater." Randall said.

Randall happily ate the food given to him. Mikey was a good cook. He was going to have a good weight on him in no time if he kept eating like this. But he didn't want to be fat either.

After his dinner, Mikey went to watch TV. Randall got on the couch next to him. He curled his tail on his right side. His front legs dangled off the front of the couch.

Mikey noticed how Randall sat on the couch. It was unique.

Randall leaned on the armrest part. He began to relax his body. He hadn't watched TV in a long time. Just to finally really relax was something. Human TV was something new to him.

Mikey flipped the channels until they were watching an action movie. It even involved a hero like the Silver Sentry. "I love this movie." Mikey said.

"You would."

"What? This isn't good?"

"This is just new to me. I haven't watched TV in ages." Randall replied.

"You can learn a lot from TV too, not just in a classroom. Splinter schooled us, along with Don."

"I bet he learned the quickest?"

"When it came to anything science, yes. Leo's the best at learning katas in ninja training. He'll practice a new one until he practically knows it in his sleep."

"And Raphael?"

"He just fights. He's the hothead." Mikey just said of how he saw his brother fight, which was really more of act and react.

Randall could make out and hear Raph beating the stuffing out of the punching bag. At least before he would lift weights.

They watched some more TV, but the more relaxed Randall got, the more he began to drift to sleep. He let his body slide down to where he was really comfortable. Mikey didn't seem to mind as the tail was resting next to him. Soon, he too fell asleep.

Randall watched a little more and then he fell asleep. His head was on the armrest as a pillow.

Leo and Raph came away from their before bed activities and saw the TV blazing away. They saw Mikey on the couch. They went over the check on him.

"Yo, Mikey, time for bed." Raph said softly.

"Shh! I think he's already asleep." Leo said.

They saw Mike was asleep, and next to him was Randall. The lizard did look relaxed while asleep.

"Let them sleep." Leo said. Then he went and got a blanket and put it on them both. Then he and Raph went to their own rooms. Leo also reminded Don to go to bed soon. Raph had turned off the TV.

Don had to finish a project before bed. It was critical.

It was 3 in the morning when he finally finished. Don yawned and knew he couldn't fight sleep any longer. He left the lab for his room, but he decided to check on Mikey first. He knew he had been watching TV earlier.

Mikey was now sleeping on Randall's back. He had the blanket over him too. Randall looked like he was deeply asleep too. He was on his stomach with his head still on the armrest. His fronds were just about flat against his head.

Don couldn't help but smile. This was a cute scene. He couldn't help but sneak and get the camera. He took a picture of that. Then he went to his room.

In the morning at 7 a.m., Klunk was hungry for his breakfast. He knew that Mikey was the one that fed him. He had seen his turtle master on the couch earlier and decided to check to see if he was still there. He was.

Klunk jumped on the couch and ended up jumping right on the Randall's shoulders, putting his claws in.

Randall hadn't expected to be woken up like that, with weight on his shoulders and a big hissing and growling cat that jumped off of him. He cried out in surprise. His sudden movement also woke Mikey up too.

"Whoa, Randall, where's the fire?" Mikey asked.

Randall panted a moment. He saw Mikey was right behind him. "The cat woke me up. And were you sleeping on me?"

"I guess I was. I move in my sleep sometimes."

Randall still felt where the turtle had been on his back.

"Guess I should go feed Klunk. That might be why he woke ya up." Mikey got up. "Sorry Klunk. Randall didn't mean to scare ya, but you scared him." Mikey said as he went to the kitchen to feed his cat.

Randall still wasn't crazy for the cat. He checked for wounds. Klunk had sunk his claws in a little bit before he had jumped off of him. Small minor wounds. He would be fine. He also checked himself over for anything else and his body felt fine.

He got off the couch and went to the bathroom. Then he went to the kitchen to see Mikey starting breakfast a little early. More pancakes, eggs and sausage and toast were going to be served. A big breakfast.

"You spoil your family with food." Randall said.

"It's the best way they let me usually. Leo and Don can't really cook. You can't even trust Leo with a toaster. Don gets tired of fixing it all the time."

"How could you not know how to use a toaster? It's easy to use."

"I know, right."

Randall got himself some bread. Then he put it in the toaster. "Just like that."

Mikey saw that Randall could seem to be trustworthy in the kitchen. Randall joined him in making the food. Something he wanted to relearn. He had used to bake before a long time ago.

The family all joined them when the food was smelling good and done.

"Morning everyone, Randall and I made breakfast this morning." Mikey greeted.

They were all surprised to hear that. Randall came in carrying the sausages and toast.

"I used to bake and cook all the time when I was younger." He said. "Mike helped me relearn some old skills."

At least on Randall, he could carry twice the amount of food on plates with his two pairs of arms.

The others were yet to be impressed by Randall's cooking. The family trusted Mikey's cooking though.

Klunk had also been fed and he went to a safe distance from the lizard.

When all the food was on the table, they all sat down to a nice breakfast, Mike taking the most of the pancakes. Randall took more sausages. But everyone got some of the food. All in all, it was a good breakfast.

In the end, they all did thank Randall and Mikey for making the breakfast.

Randall still reflected back on one time in college when he had made cupcakes and they had been ruined when someone had crashed into him right in front of some girls he was offering them to. He had just wanted a friend.

He was seeing that these guys seemed impressed with his cooking, besides Mikey helping him. "Thanks for saying you liked it. I haven't cooked for anyone other than myself for so long."

"Don't you have anyone else to care about you?" Splinter asked.

"No. No parents. No siblings. No relatives that I know of, as I was raised in orphanages and foster homes all during my childhood. Barely any friends."

Splinter, Raph, and Leo were the most still weary about Randall. Don was still watching carefully too, though Mikey had seemed to be totally relaxed around him. But it was sad to hear that story.

"Where are you really from? You tell that like how humans sometimes raise unwanted kids." Leo spoke up.

"The bare minimum of me telling you where I'm from is this. Let's just say another world. Different from this one, but similar in habits." Randall said.

"Why are you here? Why don't you go back to it?" Raph said.

"I can't. They don't want me there. And I've grown to not wanting to go back anyway. I have nothing there to go back to." Randall did know that if he did go back, he would only want revenge and that might land him in jail or worse. He had wanted to go back, until he met these guys. He at least wanted to stay for a little while to see how it worked out before deciding anything else.

"Okay. That is enough. Take a little time to relax before training so the food can digest a little first and then we are going to have training. Randall, you are free to watch." Splinter said.

"Thanks."

It was an hour before training started and Randall did watch not far from behind Splinter as the turtles trained.

After the turtles did their own katas and sparring, Splinter wanted to evaluate Randall. "You seem in such fine shape that you took care of yourself so well in so long. Michelangelo said you fought off Hun, the Purple Dragon leader the night you met him? So you must be able to fight?"

"Yes. I can fight. But I'm just not a big heavy weight fighter. I have my own way of fighting."

Randall then stood up on his very hind legs, doubling his height. He made some moves that were like a martial artist's.

Splinter could see he was in fine shape and must know some skills. He wanted to see them. "I want to see what you know, Randall. In fluid movements."

The turtles were all watching too, as they wanted to know what Randall was capable of. They knew their sensei might consider him for training too eventually. April had been.

Randall showed what he could do with his movements. It even meant climbing walls. He even vanished and stole the stick out of Splinter's hands. It really surprised the rat.

They had one very resourceful friend here. Randall gave the stick back. "Sorry, but you wanted to see what I could do."

"Thank you, and yes." Splinter said. "That would come in handy for you. Vanishing."

"I can do more than that. I can make my skin blend with just about any surroundings."

"From what I've seen you do, those are like things in common with Earth lizards like chameleons and geckos. Blending and climbing walls." Don said.

"It took me a long time to learn how to control it. And there are times where it can happen that I can take on the look of someone else's colors."

Don found that informative. "Can we see?"

Randall gave a slight eye roll, but he changed into the color of the floor, then he moved over and the gold color of the pillar. Then he turned green, to a shade of green matching Mikey's.

It was impressive alright.

"We could always use backup out there." Don said.

"Could he come Leo?" Mikey asked.

"This is all impressive, Randall, really, but you should have some more training before we let you come out with us." Leo said.

"That's fine." Randall said. He was eager to learn new things. Things that would help him stay safer.

Some new moves began to be taught to him that morning. He even sparred a little with the turtles, even goofing off a little bit. It was being used with his invisibility.

Raph got ticked at him for tripping him and stealing a sai and climbing the wall with it.

"Give it back, Lizard!" Raph yelled.

Randall just laughed. "Come and get it!"

"Why you!" Raph put his shoku climbers on his hands and he began going after him.

"No, Raphael. Leave him be." Splinter said. "Randall, give it back please." He asked nicely.

Randall still giggled, but using his tail, he flung the sai to the floor.

Raph was growling when he got his sai back.

"You need to learn to lighten up, Raph. He was only playing." Mikey said.

It had even made Don and Leo laugh a bit.

Raph hated being embarrassed in front of others and losing fights.

"I haven't played like that seriously with anyone for a long time." Randall said, coming off the wall.

The others were all wondering if Mikey was being the influence on this guy. He definitely had his own special ways about him.

Splinter concluded training was now over. They were free to do what they wanted.

Mikey wanted to watch some TV again. Raph went to his punching bag, and Leo went with Splinter to meditate and talk. Don headed to his lab.

All during training, Donny had noticed that Randall was squinting a lot. Something must be wrong with his eyes.

Randall wanted to see the genius turtle's lab for himself. He was smart too. He told Mikey that he was going to talk to Don.

Mikey didn't like it when Randall said he wasn't going to hang with him. He liked having a special friend.

Randall went to the lab. He saw the purple masked turtle hunkered on a chair working on something metal.

"What are you working on?"

"Ah! Don't do that!" Don jumped. "My brothers do that to me all the time, especially Leo."

"Sorry." Randall came forward.

"Just be careful in here."

"I know better than to destroy someone's plans for special inventions. I've learned some engineering too."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I could let you make your own special invention and then show me what it does before we show the others." Don said.

Randall knew he couldn't make anything like the Scream Extractor.

"Is there anything that seems to be of the utmost importance that you need help with?"

"I need a new piece for the Battle Shell."

"The what?"

"Battle Shell, our truck."

That day, Randall spent the day with Don. He showed him what he knew on fixing up a truck with the right parts. And Randall was having fun working with machines again.

After dinner was when he hung out with Mikey again.

Don had been impressed with Randall's knowledge of mechanical skills. He might trust him to help out at times when he needed it. Other than just along with April or Leatherhead. He fit right in with them.

Raph just ignored the lizard. Leo was still the ever watchful leader.

As for Don, he could see that Randall had put his face real close to everything. He must have some vision problems.

Before bed, Don approached Randall again. "Randall, I have to ask, do you have vision problems? I noticed how you squint and you were putting your face so close to see everything when you were helping me today."

Randall sighed. "Yes. I don't see well. I can see to where to not run into things, but I just don't see things long distance."

"You're near-sighted then."

"Yes. I just have been as far as I can remember."

"I know you have yet to meet April, but I could get her to get you a pair of glasses, or contacts. Or maybe I could read up and correct your vision. But I would have to examine your eyes."

Randall hated eye doctors. But this could be the chance of a lifetime, to get corrected vision. But could Don do it?

"Are you a doctor too?"

"I am the family's doctor. As you know, we don't have a human doctor, though April will help us out at times with injuries."

"I'll just stick to glasses if you can get them for me, but I can't wear them when I go invisible. They would give me away."

"That's why contacts would also come in handy too." Don said.

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Will you let me examine your eyesight tomorrow?"

"Alright."

Randall longed to see perfectly again. He would let him look at his eyes tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day, Don examined Randall's eyesight and it was terrible with seeing long distances. He could only see good up close.

But, in order for the glasses to be bought, Randall needed to meet their human allies too.

That evening, April and Casey were invited down for dinner and they brought dinner too. They were told they were meeting a new friend. They liked many of the turtles' friends. Another one on their side was always good.

Randall was real hesitant about revealing himself to the two humans. He saw the man had weapons on him and he wouldn't reveal himself until he put the weapons down.

Casey put his bag of weapons at the door and he was far away from them before Randall finally revealed himself.

April and Casey were surprised indeed with what Randall could do with appearing like that.

"I'm April O'Neil and this is Casey Jones. It's nice to meet you, Randall." April said.

April's voice did have a motherly tone to it. And it wasn't like the voice of the Cajun woman who had tried to kill him with a shovel.

"Hi." He said, a little shy of her, still keeping his distance just yet.

"I'd have to say that is really awesome, dude, being able to do that!" Casey said, a little too outgoing. He came toward Randall.

Randall backed up. The man kept advancing on him. When he didn't take the hint that he was being too much for Randall, Randall vanished and tripped him.

"Hey!" Casey cried out.

"Casey, you were too aggressive on him. He was backing away from you because he's afraid of you." April said.

"He doesn't trust humans." Don said.

"Some humans tried to kill him a while back." Mikey said.

"Give him some time and he'll learn to trust you, but he does need glasses and contacts, April." Don explained. "I examined his vision and it's pretty bad."

"I'll be happy to get him some glasses and contacts." April said.

"Come on, Randy, I won't hurt ya." Casey said. "I just wanted to say hi."

Randall had not liked that name since college. He was on a pillar at the moment, but came down.

"No one, calls me Randy!" Randall growled when he showed himself again.

"Okay. We won't call you that, calm down." Mikey said.

For the first time, even Raph had seen Randall's grumpy side. Now he knew of something that irritated the lizard. A nickname.

Within a short time, they sat down to dinner together, Randall staying well away from April and Casey. He glared at them, but more so at Casey.

Some things were told about Randall since he had joined them.

April and Casey left with a little hesitation on trusting the lizard monster or not.

Randall had a sense of almost trusting April, but he didn't trust Casey a whole lot. But then, he was Raph's best friend.

After all the harsh treatment from other humans, Randall was just weary of them and especially one of such confidence. Casey had been a little too outgoing for him to handle the first time meeting him.

The family assured Randall that he would be able to trust these humans. They just needed time to get used to each other was all. And April had promised to get him those glasses and contacts.

Randall was grateful for that. He needed them. Although he hoped he could get corrected vision. None of the turtles, Splinter or their human friends wore glasses. Leatherhead did when he was working in the lab. But Randall had yet to meet the croc too.

Randall was mainly sleeping on the couch now, just until a bed could be found for him.

A few days later, as promised, April brought down some glasses and contacts. He tried them out and they worked really well. He thanked her for it.

"I'm happy to oblige, Randall." She said.

Now that he could see with his new glasses, he did open his eyes more. They definitely weren't like the glasses he wore as a young monster. They had a more square shape to them. Randall found them satisfactory that they didn't make him look like a little kid.

He read the instructions on how to use contacts, but these had to be kept in the bathroom. It was just one of the places that wasn't bound to be trashed as much. And when he cleaned his teeth in the mornings, he could remember to put them in.

Back in the monster world, he knew his old rival, Mike had worn a contact lense. He had just never had a desire to wear them, but it was time he started wearing them, for his own safety.

He managed to get them in carefully. They were a pain to deal with. And it had so much risk of poking himself in the eyes. The sooner he had corrected vision, the better.

But now, during training, Randall could see clearly what they were doing and he didn't have to worry about glasses coming off his face. He would wear the the glasses when he had more relaxing things like watching TV or reading.

Randall mostly hung around Don and Mikey, but curiosity got to him and he did finally approach the leader, Leonardo. He had mostly avoided him since Leo would mostly give him the cold shoulder.

One night, Mikey was watching some action shows and he snuck away. Don was in his lab, Splinter was in his room, and Raph was out with Casey. Leo was in the training area, practicing with his katanas.

Randall just stood on the elevated floor, watching the lead turtle move. He cleared his throat.

Leo had sensed he was there, but ignored him before. But when he heard the cleared throat, he knew there was something going on. "Can I help you?" Leo stopped.

"Why do you do that all the time?" Randall asked. "You train more than any of the others, other than Raphael."

"I'm the leader, Randall. I have the main responsibility of looking out for this family. If something happens to them, I feel like it was my doing to have done better. My father tells me this all the time when I'm with him." Leo explained. "There's so much you have to learn about being part of a real family."

"As I have told you, I grew up without a family. And no one's ever really been there for me, except just one real time in college, before me and this roommate turned to not being friends."

Leo felt that Randall was trying to break the ice between them. He had mostly ignored or watched the lizard carefully. Just like Splinter, he felt there was something behind Randall's friendly side. Maybe he was just troubled? But Leo was going to get to the point of what it was.

"Come with me, Randall." Leo said. He put his swords back in their sheaths on his back.

Randall followed the blue masked turtle to his room. Leo closed the door behind him. This made Randall nervous.

Leo saw that Randall had some nervous habits at times,such as clutching his hands. Just to clarify that he meant no harm, he took his swords off, but would stay close to them.

"Randall, even though you have only been here a short time and you have been friends with Mikey and Don, there's just been something that I find troubling. We know so little about you. Master Splinter is concerned about what it is that's troubling you." Leo said.

Randall was looking at the turtle with the biggest concern. "I can't say what it is. I just can't talk about it. I just want to move past it." If he revealed what he did in the past, he might not be able to stay. The way these turtles protected humans was just beyond him.

"Alright, I won't push you if it's that bad, but you're free to talk about it. But I do also sense a restlessness in your soul. You seem to have a bit of the same kind of fire that Raph often has. I could help you in some ways to try to stay calm." Leo said.

"How?"

"There is such as a thing as ignoring things that annoy you. But sometimes, some thoughts and certain others I know can push your buttons too much."

"Like when someone can't get a job done fast enough, or they talk too much."

"Don can get carried away on explaining."

"I was talking about someone else I used to know." Randall said, remembering his old assistant. "Although your youngest brother gets carried away with childish behavior."

"He's always been like that. It's like his mind never really grew up. But he knows how to try to make us happy, when we get over stressed, he tries to cheer us up. Even Raph can be sometimes intrigued with playing with him." Leo said.

"I have yet to really see him calmed down at all. He's always yelling."

"It can seem like it, but he does care for this family too. He just needs his space when he gets angry. He nearly did do Mikey in once if I hadn't interfered."

"I saw that for myself when he blew his top."

Randall knew all too well when he felt like killing someone for ruining his plans. Before that, he had never killed before.

Leo began to try to get Randall relaxed enough that he might be able to meditate too.

"Have you ever done meditation before?"

"No. I just like to be alone when I need to be alone."

"Meditation is like a way to free your mind from troublesome thoughts too. I can help you achieve this."

Randall had been overstressed a lot in his life. Maybe this was something that could help.

"Alright. What do I do? Do your brothers ever do it?"

"Usually when Master Splinter wants them to." Leo giggled a little. "But yes, they know how to do it. It starts with deep breathing."

Leo went and sat down on his mat. "Come on. Sit down with me."

Randall heard a different tone to Leo's voice. It was inviting. He walked over and let his legs lower him to the ground. He put his tail on the ground too.

Leo saw that Randall had a very unique way of sitting. His special anatomy made him sit that way. He saw the front legs were still ready to pull himself up should he need to, while the back ones were bent forward.

Leo got him started on taking many deep breaths.

"I don't know if this will work." Randall said.

"That's why you have to train your mind to let go. Clear your thoughts. And concentrate on breathing."

"Once you reach the deep state, what happens?"

"Your mind can seem to leave your body, like dreaming when you sleep. It's called the astral plane. Sometimes new ideas come to you. You can just reflect on things."

Randall was so nervous about doing this.

Leo could see how tense Randall was.

"Just relax your mind and body." Leo encouraged. "Close your eyes. It might help. Just listen to my voice."

Randall closed his eyes and Leo encouraged more breathing. His mind did seem to clear, but some thoughts began to pool into his mind as well. Reflections of his past.

Some harsh treatments from the orphanages and foster parents, other kids, some college days after his embarrassment at the Scare Games and being kicked out of the fraternity, being used and manipulated by his old boss, and his banishment.

Randall's eyes suddenly snapped open. "NO!"

Even Leo opened his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I can't! I can't do this!" Randall got up and ran out of the room.

Leo saw he was upset. He didn't know it was that bad. He got up and followed.

The other turtles had also heard Randall's cry and they all turned to see him come flying out of Leo's room. He ran for the sewers. The turtles came beside Leo.

"Leo, what did you do to him?" Mikey demanded.

"Nothing. I was just trying to help him learn meditation. He seemed to be doing well, though he was nervous doing it. He must have seen something that was very hard for him. I swear, Mikey, I had nothing to do with hurting him." Leo said. "He wanted to talk to me. I was just trying to help him learn something new."

Master Splinter came up too. "Perhaps he is not ready for that, Leonardo. Whatever it was, he needs to face it first. Find him."

"I'll get him." Mikey said.

Leo hadn't meant to hurt him.

Mikey went out into the sewers. "Randall!" He called. He went down the first way to find him. "Randall, are you down here?"

Mike found Randall down at the end of the tunnel, sobbing.

"What's wrong? Did Leo do something to you?" Mikey asked.

Randall opened his eyes. He hadn't cried like this in a long time. "No. It was just my bad past that came back to haunt me."

"Master Splinter says that you should face it. Don't let it wear you down. But Leo can see what it did. He feels bad for what happened. He won't make you do it unless you're ready."

"I wasn't ready for that." Randall dried his tears. "I'll get over this. It was just something I wasn't ready to face again. I don't want to talk about it."

"Talk about what?" Raph then came up. He had come back from his run with Casey.

"Nothing, Raph." Mike said.

"Are you really trying to play us for idiots, Lizard?" Raph demanded.

"I don't know what you mean."

"You know what I mean. You are not part of our family. I'm on to you! You're trying to get us to drop our guard so we will let you stay."

Randall growled.

"Raph, stop!" Mikey said.

"You really think you know me? Well, you don't! You have no idea what I can be capable of!" Randall said angrily.

"Just as I thought. You are evil."

"No. Just someone who wants to fit in somewhere for a change." Randall retorted. Then he vanished and the next thing Raph knew, he was on the sewer floor and there was a big THWACK!

Raph held his face. Mikey was surprised alright.

Randall reappeared. "I can do worse than that." He then proceeded to walk off.

Mikey helped Raph up. "You provoked him, bro."

"Has he done anything like this to you, Mikey?" Raph asked.

"No. I haven't provoked his temper like you just did. He was already upset about something."

"About what?"

"Something to do with his past. Leo tried to get him to meditate for the first time and he saw something in his mind that upset him."

"So now he's hanging with Leo too?"

"He's trying to make this work, Raph. Why do you have to make it so hard for him?"

"Because he's hiding something, Mikey. I don't trust him."

"If you give him time to get to know him more, then maybe he might tell us what is hurting him on the inside."

"I just hope for your own good Mikey, that he doesn't betray us."

Randall was invisible and he heard them talking. Why would he betray them? He had no reason to. These guys were the first reptile beings to allow him to be around and they, at least they were trying to, treat him like he was one of them.

He had had his fun with them, but he just hoped they wouldn't betray him. It had happened all too often in his life sooner or later.

Mikey helped Raph back to the lair.

Don was heading toward his lab when he saw Mikey helping Raph. "What happened?" He asked.

"Raph provoked Randall and Randall tripped him up and slapped him." Mikey said.

"Raph, you know better than to do that." Don said.

"He may he cozying up to you, but he avoids me. How would I know him?"

"Because of your hotheaded nature, maybe." Don said.

"Something in meditation upset him. That might have also set him off at you." Leo said, coming over. "But are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just having been tripped and slapped." Raph said.

"Take it easy on him, Raph. He could be a good ally for us. You've seen what he's capable of." Don said. "Think about it."

"Your brothers have a point, Raphael." Splinter said, joining them.

Raph hated it that his family was taking this outsider's side rather than his. And he thought Leo had been on his side.

"I thought you were concerned about what he's hiding too, Leo?"

"I am, but I'm not trying to provoke it. Give him time to come around to telling us. It must now be that I saw that hurt him." Leo said.

"So you're no longer as hard about it as before?" Mikey asked.

"Not at all." Leo said.

They were all going to let Randall come to any of them on his own terms.

…

Randall didn't stray too far from the lair. He just had to have some time for himself after that upset him. But he came back. He just avoided the others for awhile.

Mikey was in his room drawing his own comic, so Randall saw the couch was available to him. He got on it and laid down. He had thought about it. He definitely wasn't proud of his past. But he still wasn't ready to talk about it. He needed the family's absolute trust in him first.

Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, he heard a voice. "You know, it would help to talk about it."

"Ah!" Randall jumped. He looked up and saw it was Splinter.

"Why do you do that?! Sneak up on me?" Randall held his chest. He hated when others snuck up on him like that.

"Sorry, Randall. But I just wanted you to know that you are welcome to come talk to me about what it is that disturbs your soul so much." Splinter said. "You have some kind of inner turmoil going on."

"Maybe, but I just can't talk about it right now." Randall said.

"Alright, but I hope you find the courage to face it." Splinter said. "Leonardo was only trying to help you. He wouldn't lead a friend astray."

"Where is he anyway?"

"He is meditating right now. And Raphael was told to think about what he does around you. He often just jumps right to conclusions without getting facts first."

And then, maybe Randall himself had done that so much when it involved his old rivals back in his old world.

"Thanks for your concern, Splinter, but I just need to think this over before I can even say what this is. Aside from just very bad past memories."

"Alright. We won't push you." Splinter said. "I see that you are in need of friends that support you as well."

"Yeah. I have just always never truly trusted others, because way too often in my life, I trust someone and then someone turns and betrays me. I just don't want to go through that again." Randall said.

"We try to give everyone who has been a guest in our home a fair chance to be a fair ally. And especially if they were someone who saved one or all of my sons." Splinter said.

Randall smiled at that. "Thanks."

"You are welcome. Good night. I am going to bed."

"Night."

Randall went to bed soon shortly after. It had been a long evening.

 **So does everyone think Randall is fitting in with the turtle's clan so far?**


	7. Chapter 7

Randall woke up early the next morning and he set about making breakfast for the mutant family by himself. He was trying to make it up to them.

When they were all out in the kitchen, he had a full plate of pancakes, sausages, toast and eggs ready to eat. He had been perfecting his skills with Mikey for days now and he knew how to follow recipes.

Raph still had his doubts, but was happy for the food.

"You did this all on your own, Randall?" Leo asked.

"Yes. This is just to apologize for my actions yesterday. Let's just say hurtful memories were what it was about." Randall said. "I just don't like to be mocked. I've had too much of that all my life." He was referring to how Raph had made him mad.

Raph felt bad for doing it at the moment. He also had a bruise on his face from where Randall had slapped him.

They all finished the food in peace and having only good conversations and giving Randall compliments on his cooking, for doing it all on his own for once.

…..

That night, Raph went out on his own again. This time, he wasn't meeting Casey. He needed air.

With his contacts in, Randall snuck out of the lair, following Raph. He wanted to see what it was that drove the hothead turtle out of the lair so much.

Randall kept up at a good pace, but keeping his distance. He saw that Raph liked to run and spot baddies on the streets.

This night, Raph soon ran into some mobsters in a bank. He stopped most of them, but then he didn't see one with a bazooka sneaking up behind him.

Randall had seen him and snuck down from the roof. Using invisibility, he growled and that alerted the man holding it to turn around, and then a force jumped onto him and knocked him down, making the gun go off. It shot right to the ceiling.

The man was winded, but put the gun down and tried to escape, as did some of his comrades.

Raph had no idea that the man had been sneaking up on him and he tried to get out, but then he was grabbed by the arm and dragged. "This way!" He heard. He let himself get pulled, this time. He had recognized the voice.

Once on a roof, as sirens were heard coming to the scene, Randall appeared in front of Raph.

"That was you who stopped the man from shooting me?"

"Yes. Seems even you need backup sometimes."

"But not all the time. Thanks."

"No problem."

"Are we square now?" Randall asked.

Raph was still cautious, but he replied, "Yeah. Just don't do anything to betray our trust and we won't do anything to betray yours."

"I won't."

They had finally made up and had a truce at least.

When they got home, Randall had to explain that he snuck out following Raph. And for good reason, that he had saved him from getting his shell shot in.

"I didn't see him until after we were on a roof. But the man holding the bazooka going down was a surprise." Raph said.

Splinter was proud that Randall had saved yet, another one of his sons. After that, he was welcome to stay.

…

Randall was glad to somewhat call this group who had taken him in a family. It was something he had never had. Sure, he had been brought up by some nice foster parents other than mean ones and he had been taught nice manners. It had just been so long since he had to use them nearly all the time.

After living with the family for more than a month, they considered it was time for Randall to meet their croc friend, Leatherhead.

Leatherhead was happy to get an invitation to come over for dinner one night. Don also told him there was someone there that he needed to meet.

LH was weary of strangers himself just till he got to know them, but he wanted to consider all friends his friends if they were an ally to the turtles. He knew they wouldn't ask otherwise.

April and Casey had made some more progress with Randall too. He had been taken to April's a few times as well.

The turtles had told Randall that though they were humans, but they all had a more kind of sibling thing going on, besides being best friends.

Randall tolerated April better, but with Casey, he stood up to him now. He didn't back down from a challenge. Casey would try to get him to engage in some ninja training or a game that even Splinter was good at, like Poker.

He had never been too much of a game player, but was learning it. But Randall did love turning invisible and taking off with Casey's golf bag of weapons. It miffed Casey off when he climbed the walls with it.

"Bring that back down here, Lizard!" Casey would yell.

Randall would just laugh his head off at that. The others would laugh too. Randall was a good prankster when he wanted to be.

April and Casey came over the night Leatherhead had also been invited for dinner and Randall was going to be meeting him for the first time. He had been told it was time for him to meet him.

Don told him that LH was much bigger than they were, but he was a gentle soul as long as he was around the right people. But he could get outraged easily. It wasn't wise to mess with him, especially since an evil scientist/government agent had messed with him.

Randall knew he would take his chances.

Leatherhead soon came into the lair. "Hello, my friends. I am happy to be here."

"You are welcome here, Leatherhead." Splinter said.

Randall was in the kitchen setting up food with April when the family came in with a new guest.

"Randall." Mikey said.

Randall looked up. "This is our friend, Leatherhead."

One look at the huge reptile and it instantly brought back memories.

"Ahh! Keep him away from me!" Randall panicked and he was instantly up the wall.

"What's wrong?" Don asked.

"I fought gators down in the swamps down south, just trying to avoid them. They were always trying to eat me!" Randall said. "And I was mistaken for one of them and that's how I was beaten in the head with a shovel!"

"I promise I am not like those gators down there. I am far more intelligent than they are. I won't hurt you." Leatherhead said gently.

"Come down, Randall. It is alright." Splinter said.

Randall saw how none of the others were scared of him. "Alright."

He came down and made Leatherhead's acquaintance. Randall saw that like the turtles, and himself, that LH too had three fingers on his hands.

Randall was still weary of the giant croc, but he tried to make the best of this. He just didn't want to be called or mistaken for a gator again. There were big differences between him and gators.

Once the drama was over, they all sat down to a nice dinner.

Randall did ask what LH liked to work on, as he had been told he was a scientist like Don.

Leatherhead told him of his time with the Utroms and they raised him and taught him all sorts of advanced technology. He knew of both mechanical and some medical knowledge.

Randall said that he knew of how to engineer machines and such. He did sometimes help Don too, when April wasn't around. Though when she was around, they could also help each other. But he still hadn't told them about the Scream Extractor. He never wanted to reveal it at the risk of being kicked out or worse.

"How come you don't live here with the turtles?" Randall asked LH.

"I tried to once we were out of Agent Bishop's lab. But he had tampered with my mind and it made my animal instincts stronger. It made me more dangerous. I nearly killed Michelangelo once. I thought I had, and they later showed me he was alright. But because of my temper, that I need my own space. But I'll always more than welcome visits from them and help them when they need me." Leatherhead explained.

As Randall listened, this big crocodile seemed friendly enough, but he still would watch himself around him. He was still related to the gators. Just mutated and far smarter than his cousins.

After dinner, there was more talking done to get to know one another and then a video. Leatherhead went home after the video. He was glad to have met Randall. He knew he would try to let the lizard trust him.

Randall did like being around other reptilians for a change. He had more respect here than he ever did back in his former world.


	8. Chapter 8

Randall had been learning more about self defenses other than what he already knew, but he wasn't a turtle and wasn't all that strong either in real big strength, but he did have his own strength.

He was going on patrols sometimes with the turtles. He didn't carry a weapon, as if he needed to go invisible, it would get in the way of that ability. His invisibility gave him that big advantage to his own fighting abilities.

He kept up in speed with them alright. The turtles would make sure he had his contacts in before they would let him come with them. Randall needed to be able to see where he was going and what was coming at him when he was out in public.

Though Randall had been training, he still stayed out of fights where there were a lot of humans. If there were like a few, then he would secretly join the turtles, but he made sure to never be seen.

He knew how to unblend just enough to scare the humans. He knew that a lot of humans were scared of snakes and he played the role just fine in that. At least he still got to scare humans, just not little kids. But if it came to more than scaring, he would also use his tail a lot as a weapon too.

The turtles sometimes wondered how he managed to stay out of trouble when he was with them, but his special abilities made him a great ally on their side. But Randall let them handle the bigger fights.

One night, Mikey and Randall went out on a night of the town, just having fun, when they got ambushed by a group of eight Foot ninja.

Mikey had his nunchuckus ready. Randall didn't like that they had seen him.

"Well, what do we have here? A turtle and a lizard freak." One ninja mocked.

Randall growled and bared his teeth. "Come and get it, you stupid human!"

The ninjas attacked.

Mikey hit the ninjas with his sticks. The three that came at Randall had a big surprise coming.

Randall instantly vanished and he got down on all eights and got away.

The three ninjas crashed into one another, knocking each other down and unconscious.

Mikey had seen it happen and he laughed at that. Randall was resourceful. Mikey finished off the last few and they regrouped.

"Are you alright, Randall?" Mikey asked.

"Yes. Are you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." The two started to head back to the lair when another group found them and it was the same odds again.

Even at one point, Randall and Mike were running the same way until they came to the end of a huge building that was a dead end to other buildings. They turned to face their enemies.

"Be ready." Mikey said.

"I know." Randall replied.

Each of them had to deal with five.

Randall was more of a running type. But he led them toward the side of the building and he jumped over the side.

"Randall!" Mikey cried out.

The ninjas looked over the side of the building and didn't see anything.

"Find him!"

Three went down the fire escape. The two others were then met with tail whips to the face, knocking them down.

Mikey was locked in combat with his five. One of them had a knife drawn and got close without it being seen. The knife met Mikey's left side. He cried out, but managed to beat the ninjas unconscious.

Mikey was instantly down when he held his side and saw the blood.

Randall had gone back down the building to deal with the other ninjas. He surprised them all in the alley with scares and being tripped up, knocked unconscious. Then he went back up to regroup with Mikey.

He looked around for the turtle and he saw him on the ground of the roof. He ran over to him.

"Mike, what happened?" Randall asked in true concern. He saw the blood on the roof.

Mike was barely conscious. "Knife!" He cried out.

Randall looked around and he saw a knife on the ground not far away from an unconscious ninja.

"Ran…dall… call my brothers." Mike gave Randall his shell cell.

Don had shown him how to use one. He took the phone and hit Don's number.

Don picked up.

"Hello, Mikey."

"It's Randall, Don. Your brother's been hurt by ninjas. Can you find us?" Randall asked.

"Do you know where you are?" Don asked.

"No. But you said these phones have trackers."

"Yes. We'll find you, just stay there and look after him." Don said. "What happened?"

"He was stabbed!"

"Alright. Don out." Don said and hung up.

"They're coming." Randall said.

Mikey was fading.

Randall knew he had to apply pressure to the wound, but with what? He looked to his left and there were sheets hanging out on a line. Perfect.

"I'll be right back." Randall said.

Randall hurried to the line and gripping it carefully, he climbed out to it and grabbed a sheet.

If there was one thing he missed was a tear in the rope and it couldn't hold his weight. It tore and Randall found himself falling through the air, but still hanging on the rope and the sheet. He couldn't help the scream that came from his throat.

The rope took him into the wall of the other building. He smashed one of his lower hands and his other hands got rope burn on them as he had slid down a bit. But he had stayed on it.

He got down and climbed up the fire escape with the sheet.

He got back to Mikey and though he was in pain himself, he wrapped the sheet around Mikey's middle. He laid his body across him to put pressure on the wound with his own body weight. He had Mike on his non-wounded side.

While he waited for the other turtles to arrive, Randall watched the ninjas around them. They stayed out. He also looked at his own hands under the moonlight. They were tore up from the rope and his lower right hand hurt more worse from being smashed. It had hit at the wrist.

It wasn't more than ten minutes later that the Battle Shell pulled in down at the street and the three older turtles climbed the fire escape.

They came over to them and saw Randall had his body draped over Mikey.

Randall got off now that they were there. Mike's blood had soaked the sheet. He was unconscious.

"What happened?" Leo demanded.

"We were ambushed by Foot ninjas, twice. We got away from the first ones, but were ascended with from this batch too. He was stabbed." Randall explained. "I got a sheet from over there. The rope broke on me while I was getting it and I hurt my hands."

As Randall was standing, his left lower hand cradled his right one.

Don took the sheet off of Mikey and he saw the wound was deep, but it had seemed to have stopped bleeding for the moment. "We have to get him back to the lair fast." Don said.

The sheet was put back on to stifle any further bleeding. Raph carried Mikey gently down the fire escape.

"You did well in stopping the bleeding, Randall. Laying on him like that helped." Don said.

Randall had walked down the fire escape's stairs and then Leo picked him up and climbed down the ladder at the bottom. Then he put him down on his own feet again.

Raph drove the truck back home while Don attended to Mikey in the back. He also had a look at Randall's hands. Three were injured. But they would wait till they got home before his hands were treated.

At home in the infirmary, Splinter was called out to help. Randall stayed out as Don and Splinter went to work on Mikey. The wound had to be examined and sewn up.

On the outside, while waiting, Leo saw the burns on Randall's hands and went to the bathroom for some ointment and bandages.

Randall grimaced and winced as the medicine stung his burns. His two upper hands were the burned ones. The lower right one was either sprained or broken. He sure couldn't move it, but bruising was becoming apparent.

Mikey was soon stable and he was hooked up on an IV and heart monitor just to be safe. His wound was sewn up and while Splinter stayed at his son's side, Don finally saw to the injuries on Randall's hands.

Leo had done fine on the upper ones, but the lower one was x-rayed and found to have a small fracture in the wrist.

Don gave Randall a sedative and he set the wrist, putting it in a cast.

Randall was now asleep on a cot a few feet away. A blanket was put over him to let him sleep it off.

Leo and Raph came in to see how Mikey was doing and he was okay. Just sleeping.

"Randall sure did go to great lengths to save Mikey tonight." Don said.

"Yes. Considering his three injured hands." Splinter said.

"He had a sheet wrapped around Mikey and he was lying over his injured side, Master Splinter." Leo said.

"With his hands hurting, it would have hurt too much to put pressure on the wound that way. But it did seem to help stem the bleeding." Don said.

"Why don't you three go to bed and I'll stay up with them." Splinter said. "It has been a long night."

"I'll be down in a few hours." Leo said.

Leo, Don, and Raph went to bed. They were just glad that Mikey was alright and their newest friend.

Klunk had also found his way into the infirmary and he curled up next to Mikey. Splinter allowed it as long as the cat didn't try to play with the tubes.

Then Splinter looked over at Randall. His breathing seemed steady enough. He wished he knew what shamed this lizard so from his past. Aside from what he said were bad childhood memories.

If one thing was clear now, Randall wouldn't be training or patrolling for awhile. At least until the burns healed. It would take longer for the broken wrist to heal.

If there was something about meditation, there were sure to be answers revealed. Something came to Splinter then. He got himself comfortable and making sure Mikey was stable, he set himself up to go into meditation on Randall. He had to find out.

He got into a deep sense of peace and his mind entered the astral plane. He tried to find Randall's aura, or mind.

Splinter did put a hand on Randall's head back in his body. He soon did find Randall's mind in the astral plane.

 _"Master Splinter, what are you doing here?" Randall asked._

 _"I came to help you, Randall. I need to know what is causing you so many problems. Please allow me to help you. I know you have some big secret from the past that you are not telling us about."_

 _"I can't tell you, Master Splinter. You have given me a far better life than I could ever hope to have back home. I just can't reveal this secret." Randall said._

 _"I just hope that you will tell us someday."_

 _"I can't."_

 _"Alright. But I want to thank you again for saving Michelangelo."_

 _"Welcome. He's my closest friend."_

 _"Well, I'll let you rest now."_ Splinter said and he came out of his meditation.

What was this big secret that Randall refused to tell?

It was right after that that Randall also woke up from the sedation. He was groggy from the sedative. He really wished they would lay off about his secret. He still wasn't ready to tell them of one part of his past.

Randall saw Splinter move his hand off his head.

"Why was your hand on my head?"

"For better connection with you." Splinter replied.

Randall looked around himself and saw he was on his back on a cot in the infirmary. He shifted and moved the blanket a bit and saw his bandaged upper hands. He wouldn't be able to hold anything with them for a little while.

He pulled the blanket off and looked at his other hands. His left one was fine, but the right one was in a cast. He had only one good hand. He remembered then what had happened.

"How's Mike?" Randall asked.

"He's stable. He's hooked up to a heart monitor to make sure he stays alive." Splinter said.

"It was that bad, the wound?"

"Yes. It was deep in his abdominal region. Donatello patched him up. Nothing is certain right now. We are watching him."

Randall didn't want to imagine if it had been him that had been stabbed. It did give him a chill to his belly to think about it.

"Where are the others?"

"They went to bed. Leonardo will be here soon. You should get some more rest, Randall. And I'm grateful that you saved my youngest son despite your own injuries."

"Saving them is still kind of new to me, but I do want to be there for them just as they have been there for me."

Randall's demeanor had been changing more from just staying with this family.

The drug in his system was making him tired again just to do too much talking. Randall drifted back to sleep.

A couple hours later, Leo got up and went down to relieve his father to go to bed. He saw that his brother and his friend were both out.

"Have either of them woken up?" Leo asked.

"Randall did once, but he was out again quick."

"Thanks. I'll take over now, Father." Leo said.

"Good night, my son." Splinter said and left for his room. He was tired.

As Leo sat in the chair next to Mikey, he started talking. "Mikey, I know we are all hard on you, but we just want you to realize how serious things can be out in the real world. Like what happened tonight according to Randall. He's silly enough, but even he knows when to be serious out there. He did save you tonight after all."

"You do give our lives meaning, little brother. You give us some fun in our lives when we otherwise wouldn't have any when things get too stressful around here. We don't want to lose you. Please come back to us." Leo said, some tears coming to his eyes. But he rubbed them away.

Mikey was still out, and his breathing was stable. Leo just hoped nothing would turn south with his baby brother. Then he looked over at Randall. The lizard looked so peaceful while he was sleeping.

"What can I say about you, Randall? I know you still have your big secret, but even though I have only known you for a month and a half, you have proven your worth to us. Especially tonight. I just hope Mikey comes out of this okay." Leo said. "You keep on proving that you are our friend."

Leo kept watch for the rest of the night and ended up falling asleep on Mikey's bed.


	9. Chapter 9

Randall woke up in the morning first and saw Leo asleep on his brother's bed. He got up from the cot. His footing was a little wobbly at first, with the drug still a little in his system. He went over to see Mikey waking up.

"Mike?" Randall said.

"Ran…dall?" Mikey moaned.

"You alright?"

"A little."

Randall smiled. Then he walked to the other side of the bed and with his fingers, he nudged Leo awake.

"Hmm?" Leo moaned.

"He's awake." Randall said.

Leo snapped awake at that. And as he saw Randall up on his feet, it was clear he was going to be just fine.

"Mikey! You're awake!" Leo said happily. He took Mikey's left hand in his. "You gave us quite a scare little brother."

Then the others came in. "How is he?" Raph asked.

"He just woke up." Leo replied.

"That is good." Splinter said.

"How are your hands this morning?" Don asked Randall.

Randall felt his hands burning and throbbing. He bared his teeth. "They hurt."

"I can give you some pain pills." Don said.

Randall was given some ibuprofen and he washed it down with some water. His fingers weren't damaged too bad. It had been mostly his palms that were burned. But his lower right wrist really hurt.

"How are you feeling, Mikey?" Leo asked.

"Is it time for breakfast?"

This made them all smile. He was hurt and he still had an appetite. This was the typical Mikey.

When he was helped to sit up, Klunk got off the bed. His left side hurt, but he could move. There was a small bandage strapped down by tape over the wound.

"How bad was the damage, Don?" Mikey asked.

"Some tissue was damaged and your intestine was just barely missed. So your organs are fine." Don said. "You are out of training for the next week."

Mikey liked the sound of that. Sometimes he didn't like training anyway. He could be doted on. And he wouldn't be alone. He would have Randall for company too, considering his three hurt hands. Randall would have limited use of lifting with only one good hand.

Don estimated it could take a week to ten days for the burns to heal, or slightly longer. He would change the bandages daily. But it could take the wrist up to a month anyway to heal, or longer, depending on how good a monster's ability to heal from a broken bone was.

The others all knew what Mikey was like when he was sick or injured. He could often act like a big baby. Raph often was the most annoyed by it. But they had yet to see how Randall acted while he was injured.

…

Mikey got to dominate the living room for the next week. Randall was by his side. The two of them did lounge around. But Mikey was more the annoying one, always asking to be doted on like he couldn't do anything for himself.

Even Randall got annoyed with him. If he got too annoying, Randall left him alone to go do something else. He would often go talk to one of the others. He still did help Don too, with his one good hand, he would hand him tools.

Despite his injured hands, Randall protected his hands from touch, but he didn't act like a little baby like his friend was. He took it all seriously.

The others liked that Randall wasn't whining about his injuries. But they had to help him out with a lot of things. If he so much as touched something he would try to lift himself, it would set off major pain in the burns.

A week later, Mikey's stitches came out of his side, but there was still a burning feeling inside Mikey's abdomen from the injury itself. But he was allowed to start light training again. There would be no sparring with his brothers for another two weeks at least.

Don looked at Randall's hands and they were doing well. The burns needed another week. Then he looked at the broken wrist and it still needed more time.

Another week later, Randall's burns were healed enough that he could finally use his upper hands again to lift things.

One night, Randall felt like he needed to get out of the lair. He wanted to talk to someone, but someone different. He said he was going to April's. The family was fine with that.

Randall had learned the route to her place from the sewers and went up a ladder close to her place, making sure he wasn't seen. He was still in no condition for fighting and his broken wrist would give him away if he tried to vanish.

Don had phoned ahead that Randall was coming to April's and she was expecting him.

She had been proud of him when she had heard what he had done for Mikey.

He knocked on her door and she let him in. Upstairs, she made them some hot chocolate.

Randall had one sip and just looked at the cup.

April saw that something was wrong. "Randall?"

"Hmm?"

"You look like there's something wrong." She said.

"There is. It's the one thing that I haven't told the turtles and Splinter about yet. I didn't want anyone to know about it. But it's eating away at my mind. I'm not proud of who I used to be." Randall said.

"Who you used to be?" She asked.

"Just like those ninjas and the humans that the turtles fight all the time, I had a bad side to me once, April. I'm not proud of it, but I was also manipulated into almost doing something bad."

Now April could understand why Randall wasn't wanting to talk about it. But she wanted to know. "What did you almost do?"

"I'm from another world, April. Like another dimension rather. It's one where my kind are dependent on screams from young humans for energy. We never harmed the kids, just scared them. If you've ever heard about kids talking about monsters coming from their closets to scare them, they're right." Randall explained.

"You scared kids?"

"Yes. But it was a job. It brought energy to our world. But like I said, we never harmed the kids. It might have just given them a bad case of nightmares. And we were also taught from our side from young ages that we thought human kids were toxic to touch us. Of course a few of us found out that was a lie."

"But as I said, I was also manipulated and forced to do a different job too. It was to try to stop having scarers and have a machine that would power the world with only one child's screams to supply them every once in a while. I was forced to make such a machine and I had to try it on a young kid. I never got the chance to try it out because the plans were ruined by another monster. Him and another one who were my rivals, banished me here." Randall finished.

"But I swear, I've learned from my mistakes. I see now that human kids are no different than monster kids, in some ways."

"I can see why you didn't want to tell them. That wasn't right, Randall. What about monster kids? Couldn't they have done it for you?"

"No. Human kid screams just had more power to them."

"How long have you really been gone from your world?" April asked.

"Almost two years now. I have no family to go back to, and I didn't have any respect compared to what I get here." Randall said.

"And you would have tried to scare my kids, if I had any?"

"Some monster would find out. And maybe. But not now."

"If I ever have kids, Randall, you better not try to harm them." April was becoming stern now.

"I won't, I promise." Randall said, holding out his hands in surrender. "Please, believe me."

April saw that Randall had a concerned look in his eyes. He hoped this wouldn't count as a betrayal.

"What would happen if you went back to your world?"

"I could be thrown in jail. Or banished to another place. Something really bad. Please, can we just keep this between the two of us? You've always had the best intentions with the turtles. I need someone I can trust with this." Randall said.

Randall hugged his upper arms across his chest.

April hadn't liked what she had heard, but she agreed. "Alright. We can keep this between the two of us. I can see why you didn't want to reveal it. But is this your biggest secret?"

"Before I was banished, I did nearly kill my rivals. And that too was an order and also desperation to try to get my plans to work, but as I said, they never did. And I was nearly killed the same day when I was thrown into a house where a woman beat me in the head with a shovel."

"So you tried, but you didn't succeed in killing them?"

"No, I didn't."

So Randall had been a fighter, and nearly killed, but he hadn't killed. This was nearly on the innocent list, with no official killing on his hands, at least with humans.

"Did you kill any ninjas in the fight to save Mikey?"

"I don't think so. Just knocked them out. If my actions to them did worse, I don't know. Mike was my first priority to care for."

April knew that some enemies had to die just to get rid of them, but she was just clarifying to see if Randall was a heartless killer. But due to his explanation, it didn't sound like he was.

She saw that his body language was not that of a killer and he felt guilty for his actions so long ago. If he had been human, just for assault, he would be sent to jail, or be put to death if he had killed someone. But now that the Foot had seen him, more than likely, they would also be after him too as well as the turtles.

But, after having lived here and his demeanor was like that of a good person now, he had a clean slate. And he had never killed, other than animals for food down in the swamp. But she would understand if he ever killed in the heat of battle with the Foot clan. They were nothing but a menace.

"I promise I won't tell the turtles and Splinter about it. But the thing to remember is, Randall, that all life matters. Though when it comes to scum like the Purple Dragons or the Foot clan, you may have to take your chances to defend yourself and the turtles from them. Even if it means killing them in battle." April said. "They are all they have as a family."

"I promise to look out for the turtles. I saved Michelangelo."

"Yes, and we are grateful for that." April said. "Just don't ever think you have to cross that line to be forced to ever again just by sheer mocking. You only do it in self defense."

Randall was glad she was so understanding. "It wasn't easy to say no when I was having my paycheck being cut off or being threatened if I didn't build the machine. I swear. It was my boss that made me do it."

"I know what it feels like to be threatened by your boss. The night I first met the turtles, my ex-boss, Dr. Stockman, he turned the robotic Mousers on me. I helped to make them too. So I know what it's like to make killer machines. He was using them to rob banks and even to try to kill me. Lucky the turtles found me and destroyed the Mousers. He had also destroyed the lair that the turtles grew up in for 15 years." April explained.

"They never told me that." Randall realized how much they had in common then, at least about making machines that could be deadly on others.

April shared the story further. How they brought Stockman down and they created their new team.

To hear this gave Randall a better peace of mind. Now he felt more closer to April. For a human. She promised to keep his secret, but he felt better that he had told someone about it.


	10. Chapter 10

Two weeks later, Randall's wrist was still healing, but with Mikey now well enough to do real training again, the family realized they needed to get away from the city for awhile. They also had yet to show Randall the farmhouse.

Randall was a little hesitant about going back to the country.

"It's not like the swamps down south, Randall." Don said. "It's nice and peaceful. There are no alligators, though there are wild animals. That's why we try to stay close to the house and we do go camping sometimes. I'm sure you'll like it up there once you get to know the place."

"We'll see." Randall said. He had never camped before when he was young, but he had camped from his life in the swamps. He had had to learn to survive. Maybe he could learn something more from the turtles.

…..

While the turtles were preparing for some relaxation time, the Foot had been telling about real weird forces that were happening with the turtles many times. The Shredder didn't like fairy tales or when his men failed him. But the night the orange banded turtle was nearly done for, they had seen something never seen before with him.

A big lizard that had defeated them too. It made the Shredder curious.

"Find this lizard then." The Shredder ordered.

The ninjas would follow his orders no matter what or they knew what would happen.

…..

The turtles, Splinter, Randall, and April and Casey headed up to the farmhouse. April was driving her own van. Don drove the Battle Shell.

"What's the name of the town the house is near?" Randall asked.

"Northampton." Leo said.

Don had made Randall his own special chair to be in. He, just like the others needed to be secure in the seats for safety.

Randall saw some of the scenery in the back from the front and out the back of the truck. He was seeing some houses right now, knowing it was a town. They were going through Northampton now.

Then they got back to the country. Randall had not missed country life.

When they got to the house, the turtles all got out excitedly. Mikey had Klunk too, in a cat carrier. Klunk was okay with traveling really. Randall was the one that got out last, not ready to be back in the country.

They planned on staying at the house for a few weeks. Randall's wrist would finish healing in that time too. And they wanted to show him what camping was like.

When he got out of the truck, Randall hadn't expected to see such a big house. But, given there were so many of them, they all would need their own spaces.

They went into the living room from the front entrance. A real big room. A fireplace and the stairs to go upstairs was in there.

Randall was given a tour of the place. April and Casey had their own rooms. The turtles and Splinter all shared the attic area. There was a guest room. An infirmary in case of serious injuries. And a couple of bathrooms.

Then there was a tour of the barn. There was a silo outside too and that was where the basement was by, should there be severe storms.

"Nice place this is." Randall said.

"It used to be my grandma's." Casey said. "Now I own it."

"And his mom sometimes stops by. She knows about the guys too. Don't worry. She's tough, but she's likeable once she knows you." April said.

"Are we expecting her?" Randall asked.

"Not that we know of." Leo said. "She'll keep your secret though. She kept ours."

"We are also friends with a girl back in New York too, called Angel." Mikey said.

"A kid?"

"Yeah. She's a teenager, near our age. She knows how to take care of herself." Raph said.

Randall was definitely hoping she wasn't a toddler. He wondered if that was that little girl's real name he had kidnapped so long ago.

"Does she accept reptiles?"

"She is our friend, so yeah." Mikey said. "We were the only ones she could come to for help to find her brother when police wouldn't."

"Where was he anyway?"

"You call yourself a monster right?" Leo said.

"Yeah." Randall said.

"Well, her brother went down into a underground lair on Wall Street where there was truly a REAL monster. Some kind of alien. We had to face him. He was a huge one." Leo said.

"There are giant monsters where I come from too."

"Yeah, but do they knock you out and feast on your mind?" Mikey asked.

"What?" Randall questioned.

"He tried to traumatize us in our dreams." Don said. "We were lucky we came out of it. But he had all these tentacles that it was impossible to beat him just to try to fight him. He would know of your worst fears."

If scares would still work, Randall knew this one would be welcome in his world for sure.

"What happened?"

"I took care of him with a meteor spear." Leo said. "He was evil. He could have easily done the same to you, if you were with us at the time, Randall."

"Have you ever had to fight the dead? He also powered that too." Mikey said.

This was one weird conversation when that came up. He must have been one powerful monster.

"Did you ever see what he looked like?" Randall asked.

"Yes. He looked like a cross between a red dragon, an octopus, and a scorpion." Leo said.

"Well, there are some monsters in my world that do have tentacles and breathe fire like the dragons I've seen on TV." Randall said.

"The monster didn't breathe fire. But he was one hell of a fighter." Raph said. "And he nearly took us all out if Leo hadn't killed him."

Randall knew the turtles were fighters if their lives were threatened. He really didn't want to pursue this conversation, as it creeped him out.

After that, they all went about their businesses. Randall was going to be allowed to have the spare guest room, unless of course, Casey's mom showed up.

When the unpacking was all done, April and Casey went back to town to get some food supplies. The turtles and Splinter did a little training to stretch their muscles after the trip. Randall just watched. But he too stretched his own muscles.

"How close is the nearest neighbor?" Randall asked.

"One lives a ways over that way." Don answered, pointing west. "But stay away from there. He has a dog and he does video tape. We can't take chances of being seen."

"I know."

"Just that Mikey once wandered too close to his place." Don said.

"And he did sick his dog on me. I got away from it though." Mike said.

"And there was a lunatic monster hunter out here to find something we didn't think existed." Don said.

Randall didn't like the sound of that.

"We took care of her though. We made sure she was a laughing stock that she lost her TV program and all that." Don said.

Randall relaxed. He didn't want to deal with any monster hunters. Avoiding hunters down in the swamps was bad enough.

"How long were you guys out here?"

"Just long enough for me to heal from injuries sustained in a fight with Shredder and his Foot clan." Leo said.

Randall knew Leo was a tough turtle to beat. His skills were like perfect.

"How could they hurt you? The way you fight, Leonardo, you are hard to beat."

"I'm not invincible. I was far outnumbered." Leo said. "But I would give my life to protect my family. I was never going to tell them where my family was. But I got thrown through April's window and they found us."

"And Shredder blew the place up." Mikey said.

"The Shredder is relentless. And he's also the biggest coward. He has no honor. He lives to kill anything on site practically." Leo said.

"Anyone who doesn't side with him." Splinter said.

Everyone knew that Randall might meet him sometime. And Randall may not have a shell like the turtles, but he could move fast enough that he might be able to hold his own in a fight. And his climbing ability and invisibility gave him good chances of staying away too.

After everyone left after training to go find something to do, Leo called Randall to him.

"Randall, please come here."

Randall went over to him.

"I know your wrist is still healing, but I wanted to say this to you. Not many people can do this, but I know I can. I want to test your ability to sneak. Try it with me first and we can try on the others later sometime."

Randall thought this would be easy.

"You don't have to use your invisibility. I can just turn my mask around." Leo said.

"Alright. But you can't use your swords."

"I wouldn't. Let's begin."

Leo turned his mask around. His swords were sheathed.

"But why do you want to do this?"

"Because, sometimes, you can't always trust your eyes." Leo said. "It's a way to test your other senses."

Leo just stood there, neutral.

"Are you ready?" Randall asked.

"Yes."

Randall knew how to be stealthy. It was one of his specialties. He smiled.

He got down on all eights. He got close to one of Leo's legs behind him.

Leo quickly turned around and Randall jumped away. Leo heard movement and he tried to follow it.

"You were behind me first." Leo said.

"Yeah, now where am I?"

"To my left."

"Good."

Randall moved again. This time he stood up.

Leo sensed he was behind him again. He rushed a hand out and got Randall in the chest.

Randall was surprised. Leo was good at this.

They continued to practice. Leo tagged him a few more times.

When it was over, Randall knew that Leo was really good. Usually no one had ever sensed his presence that well. Leo would probably sense things really good even if he ever went blind.

The family had actually watched it from inside the house too.

Randall didn't like that his stealth was ruined, but not many others could sense him.

"Don't be mad, Randall. It was only testing. And there are a few out there that have strong senses like me and Splinter. The others have yet to master this. But this is just something to take into account like if you were to be against any Foot ninjas. Some of them are really lethal. Like the Foot Elite. Even they might be able to sense you being invisible. I just wanted you to be prepared for it." Leo explained.

The more he heard, the more Randall knew he didn't want to go up against these ninjas. How could these humans be so powerful? But he knew humans were dangerous in all forms.

Soon, April and Casey returned and the test was over.

Leo did have a point though to be prepared for.

The test had all been on open ground this time, but later, they would try this in the woods and such. Randall knew he was harder to reach up in the trees. But he later got to see how acrobatic the turtles were even in the trees.

 **Reviews always make an author's day.**


	11. Chapter 11

After getting settled in and after a few days and letting Randall get used to it there, the turtles decided it was time for a camping trip. They all were wanting Randall to deal with the unexpected.

They packed up the essentials and then it was time for travel. Casey took the five boys to an empty spot that had a good water source.

While they were gone, it would give April, Casey, and Splinter some quiet time. They would also take care of Klunk.

Randall had his own tools that he had gotten down in the swamps, but the turtles wanted to prepare him for much more.

"In places where humans don't exist, and you might need help if there was an injury, you need to know how to take care of yourself and where to go." Leo said. "What to do."

Although the turtles had brought their own weapons, they did show Randall how to make weapons out of their surroundings as well. Rocks, sticks, tree bark, they all came in handy. Some tree limbs also became useful to hold things. Even to make a spear.

These guys may have been city boys like him, but Randall saw that they did know how to survive out here in the wilderness too. They seemed to know the basics of it.

Mikey had packed up the majority of the food. And though they did eat what they had brought, the turtles also did practice living off the land too.

The water was fresh and fine, healthy to drink from. But they also went fishing and swimming in it too. Randall didn't swim though, with the cast still on his wrist. But he could swim.

They were all out camping for five days, then Casey came and got them. Randall had learned quite a bit in that amount of time, but he was ready to go back to the house.

….

Randall helped Don with some projects up at the house. He did learn more training techniques from Leo. He went exploring in the woods with Mikey and they stayed clear of the neighbor's.

The boys even did tree hopping training too. Randall saw that the turtles were even just as smooth going through trees as he was. But his body just also had more natural climbing abilities with his gecko/tree frog like fingers and toes.

Raph had his motorcycle too. He wasn't too crazy about letting the others get near it, other than Don. He warned Randall that if he ruined anything on the Shell Cycle, he would be in trouble.

"Why would I want to ruin such a beautiful invention?" Randall stated. "I know mechanics."

"Just the same. Don't touch it." Raph said.

Randall couldn't ride it anyway. He wasn't even going to try. Driving wasn't for him.

Splinter still tried to get Randall more comfortable with trying to learn to meditate. He just might need to learn it.

Randall wasn't always the patient type. He had that in common with Raphael. But at least he did have a longer attention span than Mikey.

Just as April had the mothering figure besides being like a sister to the turtles, Master Splinter was the father figure. He was patient with Randall.

He got Randall to relax and focus on his breathing and clear his mind. He eventually succeeded in getting him into a trance.

Together, they met in the astral plane. Splinter talked to him about it and explained things. And they even went through some of Randall's past trials, but just as soon as the big secret came up again, it made Randall come out of it.

"You keep on trying to get me to reveal it, don't you?!" Randall snapped.

"I'm trying to help you clear your conscious of past mistakes. To get you the true new start you need, Randall." Splinter said. "I'm sorry for your hard past, but you need to move on from it."

"I have been trying to move on. I just don't want to think about it, but some of you keep on trying to get me to tell you. I don't want to talk about it!" Randall said angrily.

"If you tell us what it is, it might give you the full piece of mind you need."

Randall gave out a deep breath. He knew he needed to get it over with. "You want to know what it was?"

"Yes."

"Fine. I'll tell you when you're all together. I don't want to repeat it again." Randall said and left.

Later that evening, Randall had told April he was finally going to tell them. He needed support in this. April agreed to it. She would let him do the talking unless otherwise.

Everyone was gathered in the living room. April stood by Randall as he began.

"I heard how you turtles met April." He began.

"Yeah, with the Mousers attacking her." Don said.

"Well, this big secret isn't something I'm proud of. I've learned my lesson since then, and I know this will be hard for you to hear." Randall said.

"I've seen how you guys protect humans. But when I used to live in my former world, I had gone to college to become a scarer and learned engineering skills. When I got a job at a place called Monsters, Incorporated, I was a scarer. I scared human kids coming out of the closet for a living. We monsters just scared the kids, we didn't harm them. But it was for energy for our world. We have different energy ways in our world than here."

"If there were monsters that broke certain rules, they were banished here. And I became one of them. But how it started was, I was asked if I could make a machine for my boss and at first, I was excited because he promised me fame and money, but overtime, when I soon wanted to quit when it became overwhelming to even have a life outside of work, my boss manipulated and used me. He threatened me, he cut my paycheck at times and he could have done much worse. He forced me to make a machine that was supposed to suck screams from kids. And I was to try it on a little girl. But because I had rivals where I worked too, they were friends with her and protected her from me."

"My plans were ruined. The machine would power our world if the plans had succeeded, but my rivals destroyed the machine. And I was ordered to kill my rivals. I was so desperate for respect and to just have something succeed for once in my life. I was always the joke to everyone when I was young and hated just because I was a reptile. It was even a miracle I had a job at Monsters, Inc. But my boss might have still did away with me afterwards had I not succeeded. But my rivals banished me here to this world."

"First in, I was beat in the head with a shovel plus more. I was lucky I lived. And I lived in the swamps for a long time before I decided to move on. And you know the rest." Randall finished. He looked desperately at the family.

"You all wanted to know my biggest past secret. And like I said, I'm not proud of it. I regret it now, I swear. I know human kids, aside from looks, don't seem to differ that much from monster kids." Randall said.

The family was all in shock.

"Did you know if the machine would have killed the girl or not? Or any kid?" Leo demanded.

Randall had seen what it nearly did to Fungus. It had been a dangerous machine.

"It was tested on another monster. It was possible and that's why we had to test it. At the time, humans were just like animals to us. Test subjects. We didn't know anything of their smarts, and thought they were toxic to touch us. But I found out that's not true. But I just want to move on from that part of my life."

"But if April and Casey had kids, would you try that on them?" Raph demanded next.

"No! I won't."

"How can we believe you?" Splinter asked.

"Because of when I saved Michelangelo and Raphael." Randall declared. "I mean what I say."

As head of the family, Splinter knew that there had to be consequences for this. Should they let him stay, or make him leave?

"Randall, will you please go outside and no eavesdropping. I must discuss this with everyone." Splinter said.

"You guys have been a real family to me for the first time in my life. I've never known such respect and real friendship like this before." Randall said.

"Please go outside. We will call you when we need you to come back in." Splinter said.

"Okay." Randall said.

Randall went outside to the barn. He climbed up to the hayloft. He went to the edge and watched from up there. He knew there was probably going to be trouble ahead for him. That's why he hadn't wanted to reveal it.

Inside, turtles, rat, and humans discussed a possible punishment, or if he would need to leave.

"How can we truly trust him?" Casey demanded.

"I don't know if I can trust him with my tools again." Don said.

"I knew there was a dark side to that lizard." Splinter said. "I knew he was hiding something."

"Me too." Leo said.

"But also take into account that he's saved me, twice and Raph once." Mikey said. "And he hasn't tried to attack us, unlike Stockman."

"He did hide and take our things when you were hiding him, Mikey." Raph said angrily.

"Yeah, but he never tried to hurt you." Mike retorted.

"We know Randall is a resourceful lizard. He's a fighter. If he survived in the swamps for so long, he could survive out there again." Splinter said.

"So what are you recommending, Father?" Leo asked.

"Bring him back in." Splinter said.

Mikey went out to call Randall back in.

It had been about a 15 minute discussion.

Randall climbed down the wall, holding up his injured one. He followed Mike back inside.

"Master Splinter has something to tell you." Mike said.

Once inside, Randall stood before the rat, fronds close to his head and his hands behind his back. He also looked nervously around at the others, who had disappointed looks on their faces. Then he looked at Splinter.

"With what you have learned from my sons on the camping trip, your punishment is going to be you are to be out in the wilderness for a week, without anything but your glasses and contacts, using what you have learned." Splinter said.

"You've got to be kidding." Randall said.

"I never joke, Randall. I mean what I say too."

"What about his wrist?" Mikey asked.

"He has three others. He'll make do. And I am still grateful to you for saving Michelangelo and Raphael, Randall. But this is a test and a punishment for you to put all you know as a result of this big secret."

"Where am I going to go?" Randall asked. "The camping spot?"

"That will be up to Casey to decide."

Randall looked at the man. "Oh, I know a good spot." Casey said.

Randall had a feeling the man knew of a bad place to put him in.

"But I can't even take my own tools?"

"No. You use what's on the land only." Splinter said.

Randall couldn't believe this and no one was standing up for him this time. He knew it was foolish to trust others. April hadn't even stepped in to defend him. And he had trusted her with this secret.

"Am I going to be allowed back?"

"After a week out there." Splinter said.

"What about a tent?" April asked.

"No."

"I was used to roughing it down in the swamps."

"Mr. Jones. Escort Randall to the spot." Splinter said.

"Right now?" Mikey asked.

"Yes, my son. Right now."

Randall's eyes widened. He went upstairs to his room. He slammed the door closed.

Casey went up after him. "Come on, Lizard. Get your glasses so we can go."

"I don't want to go!" Randall said.

"We can take the door down if you don't come out."

"Fine!" Randall said. He grabbed his glasses and opened the door. "I had to get my glasses."

"Let's go." Casey said.

They came back downstairs and Randall looked at the others on his way out. They still looked upset. He then followed Casey out the door to the van.

He got in the back, away from the dark haired man.

Casey drove Randall quite a ways from the house to an empty place. It was by a creek though. "Get out." Casey ordered.

Randall obeyed. He grabbed his glasses case and that was it. He shut the door and the van moved on fast.

Now Randall knew he was out in the middle of nowhere with nothing. Not even a friend to talk to. He had to remember what he had learned to make it out here. He was on his own, and for a week.

He remembered that the turtles had stayed in the place where they had been dropped off for camping. But would Randall stay in this spot?

He went on to explore this area, what it held. He saw the creek bed, but it wasn't big enough to hold fish.

Back home, though April had understood, she just hadn't known what to say. It had been up to Splinter to decide Randall's fate. He would be allowed back, after a week.

Mikey would miss his best friend. The others all had a piece of mind that he wasn't a problem for now. They were shocked that Splinter hadn't made him leave permanently.

….

Out in the woods, Randall quickly resorted to finding a good stick to make into a spear, or a sword. He shaved it up and shaped it right. He used some tree limb vines to tie some around his body to be able to carry it. He carried his glasses case in his fingers in his hurt hand.

He would stay near his water source. Then he began to follow it further downstream to find a pond or something where he could at least fish. He also looked for shelter too. But he knew he could sleep just as well in the trees.

He had moved deeper into the woods from when he first arrived. Soon, he came to a pond where there was more likely to have fish in it. He knew how to make a fire to cook it.

He then saw a good thick sized tree where he would stay. It had a big hole in the top of it.

Randall climbed the tree and put his glasses there. He just settled down there for now. This had been one shocking day. Why couldn't Splinter have at least let him prepare himself first like overnight, to let him think about things? But being out here, he would have a week to think.

Randall had gotten used to city life again. He was going to have to reflect on old skills he learned down in the swamps and what he had learned from the turtles.

He was so mad at them that once he was sure his stuff was secure, he took his contacts out too, and then he climbed down the tree and he instantly went into the pond.

He had been told not to get his cast wet. For the last few weeks, it had only been wash cloth baths for him. But not now.

When he got out of the water, the cast was beginning to weaken. Bending his neck down, and using his hands and teeth, he pulled the cast off his hand. He left the stuff on the ground and then threw dirt over it.

"I won't be needing that anymore." Randall told himself.

Then he tested his wrist. It felt weird to be out to the air again. It felt near normal, but there was still some pain in it. Right now, Randall didn't care.

He tested getting down on eights and walking on it. It hurt to put weight on it. He still couldn't use it.

Randall went back to the tree and just wanted to be left alone, which he was. He didn't bother coming down at all the rest of the night. The pain of his punishment made him cry a little bit, but it could have been worse for him.

It was hard, but he soon found sleep.

 **How do you all think it's going so far? Randall just gave off his biggest secret.**


	12. Chapter 12

It felt strange to be having dinner and going to bed without Randall there. Mikey was so upset that he spent the night in Randall's room. He couldn't be around the others tonight.

Mikey had asked his father to please reconsider.

"His punishment stands, Michelangelo." Splinter said. "Now say no more about it."

Mikey knew better than to backtalk his father. But it didn't mean he had to like it. He would miss Randall, probably more than his family did.

…

The next day, Randall woke up to the sun in his eyes. It seemed weird he was sleeping in a tree again and he remembered yesterday. It had been no dream. But living with the mutants might as well have been. He was out in the wilds again, with nothing.

Randall sighed and climbed down the tree and got a drink from the pond. What was he going to eat today? But he would have his hand at fishing first.

But before that, he went into the pond again, this time for a swim. His wrist hurt to use it, but he used it. He was going to strengthen it or else.

After swimming, he was along the shoreline and he dove after several fish. He caught three. He took them back up to his tree.

He had also made a little knife out of a rock. He would wait until closer to evening before preparing the food. He knew not to let anyone see signs of a fire smoking.

Randall really didn't want to do much of anything on his first day out here, other than just have food. He ignored his hunger the majority of the day.

He wondered what would happen when he went back. Would the family ever be able to trust him again? He had said he wasn't happy of his actions so long ago. And now he was banished again.

Randall knew he could take care of himself out here. But it didn't mean he had to like it.

And also because of the pain in his wrist, he made a new splint for it. Just to keep it straight. He could only use his fingers very mildly for lightweight lifting.

…..

If felt so awkward in the morning that Randall wasn't there having breakfast with them.

Splinter knew Mikey was still mad at the punishment Randall was under.

Leo and Raph were more relaxed about it and didn't pay much attention. Don was watching Mikey.

Casey felt more at ease too. April had cooked breakfast.

Mikey felt hungry, but he didn't feel much like eating. He did make sure to feed Klunk. He wondered how Randall was doing this morning.

It was going to be one long week. But at least Mike had his family. His best friend was out there all by himself.

After breakfast and training, Don tried to console Mikey the best he could. He would hang out with him. They were going to be up here awhile longer so there was no hurry on projects, unless it would be an emergency.

Leo and Raph hung out together too.

"Are we really going to be able to trust that lizard again?" Raph asked.

"He was trying to move on with his life. It might be awhile before he has our trust back, but he does need some others to believe he has the power to change." Leo said. "Mikey thinks our father was too harsh on him."

"It might have been just the right punishment for him. Better than getting a beating. Considering he did get beat in the head with a shovel."

"Yeah. We've all faced our father from his stick before. He's never hit Randall with it, after he heard what happened to him." Leo said.

April went up to talk to Splinter after she cleaned up the kitchen.

"Weren't you being a little hard on Randall?" She asked.

"When he has done something bad, he must have consequences as well as my sons do. Since he has learned some things out there from my sons, why not a test to see what he's learned, on his own? There will be more for him when he comes back, but he needs to think about what he did. And that will not be allowed here." Splinter said.

"Splinter, that was in the past. He can't change his past, but he needs support and care to move on from what he did."

"And he will get it when he comes back, but fully trusting him again will take time. He's going to have to earn it back."

"He and Mikey are pretty close friends. Almost like brothers."

"I know. A little time apart could do them some good. But unlike my son, Randall has a more grownup disposition. He can handle himself out there. Even with his broken hand."

"What if we can't find him in a week?" April asked.

"I will have Michelangelo go with Casey to go get him."

Casey worked on the van that was having some engine trouble after taking Randall away.

Splinter later told Mikey that he would go with Casey to go get his friend in a week. That made the turtle so happy.

…

Randall just stayed near the tree and the pond. He mostly just ate fish all week, but he did also bait a couple traps for other animals too. He also speared a deer. A young buck. But it was all for food, no sport.

He skinned and gutted the deer. He used the skin as a blanket when it was all dried out. He used tree limbs to hang meat on from the tree. He knew how to be resourceful, from what he learned from the turtles and what he had learned down in the swamps. So he didn't starve, not by a long shot.

Hunting and swimming had kept him busy all week. And it had seemed like the longest week of his life.

Using his rock knife, he had marked the days in the tree that had gone by. Tomorrow should be the day he was going back.

All week it had been dry out, but that night, a big thunderstorm had to hit. Randall tried to stay out of the rain and used the deer skin too. It wasn't quite so muggy in the air yet, and it made the rain feel so cold.

Randall would be lucky if he didn't get sick from such a cold rain. He got a little wet, but he did his best to stay dry. It was not an easy night.

…..

On the last night, Mikey was excited that tomorrow would be the day to go get Randall back. His family saw how happy he was. But they weren't sure how they were going to feel to have Randall back. He was going to have to earn their trust back.

Mikey had barely slept that night when he kept thinking of all the stuff he and Randall could do when he got back.

Mikey didn't want breakfast that morning. He wanted to eat it with Randall.

The others knew Mikey wasn't going to let up. Only Casey knew where Randall was and Mikey was anxious to get going first thing that morning.

Casey skipped breakfast for Mikey so they could go get the lizard monster.

Mikey saw that Casey had driven quite a ways from the farmhouse. "Why did you drive him so far away, Casey?" Mike demanded.

"So he wouldn't come back so easily."

They soon pulled up to the spot where Casey remembered to drop him off. They both got out and looked around.

Randall was nowhere in sight.

"Where is he, Casey?"

"I don't know. I'm sure he knew to stay in this spot."

"We have to look for him." Mikey said. He began to look for footprints on the ground, but any prints would have been wiped clean by all of last night's rain.

"Randall!" Mikey called out.

Casey called out too.

They both looked around the area.

"This is your fault! If you had told him to stay near this spot, he would have!" Mikey snapped.

"I'm sure he was looking around for food or something."

"I'm not leaving till we find him." Mikey said.

Casey knew there was also a possibility Randall may be dead too. But he was such a tough lizard.

They both continued to follow the creek. That was the best course even Randall could have taken.

When they came across traps and such, and the stench of a dead animal, it was possible Randall could be nearby.

"Randall!"

Randall was asleep in his tree when he was awoken by what sounded like his name being called out. He moaned. He didn't want to move.

After the rain last night and gotten wet enough, he was soaked and now didn't feel good.

"Randall! It's me, Mikey! We have come to take you home!" Mikey called again.

"Mike?" Randall said tiredly.

He groaned as he forced himself to move. He grabbed his glasses case, then climbed slowly down the tree. His steps were so staggering. He had lost his contacts during the week too, but they could be replaced.

He listened and the voices went past the tree. He followed them.

Casey and Mike were almost ready to go back, when they heard some footsteps.

"Who's there?" Casey demanded. Mikey had gone behind a tree in case.

"Just me." Randall said. He had left all of his other stuff behind. He just wanted to get out of these woods.

Mikey came out from behind the tree. "Randall! It's so good to see you!" He ran up and hugged his friend.

Randall was shocked that someone would be so glad to see him, he just stood there for a moment. But he did finally hug back.

Casey saw the two friends hug. Perhaps Mikey was being such a good influence on Randall after all.

"We thought we wouldn't find you, you had left the spot where Casey dropped you off." Mikey said.

"I couldn't stay there. My safety is about being in the trees. Some animal could try to have me for dinner without any weapons or anything. I made my own weapons and traps to catch my own food, but now, I'll let the animals have it." Randall said. "I don't ever want to come back here again."

"Then don't betray our trust of you, which you have to earn back." Casey said.

"I promise." Randall replied. Then he broke out in coughing fits.

"We need to get you home." Mikey said.

On the way to the van, both Mike and Casey saw that Randall's walking was off and Mikey had to help him.

"What happened to your cast?" Mikey asked.

"Got wet. Took it off. Still hurts and put a splint on it." Randall said.

Once they got to the van, Randall was allowed to lay in the back. Mikey wasn't about to leave his side anytime soon. Casey drove them home.

When they got back to the house, the family did see they had found Randall. He had made it through the week out there. But he didn't look like himself.

His color was paler than his real purple color, he was sneezing, coughing and staggering. Mikey helped him to his room where Randall eagerly climbed into the bed.

"How long have you been like this?" Mikey asked.

"Since the rain got me."

"Last night?"

"Me and cold rain don't mix well."

"I'm sorry. I can make you some soup for breakfast."

"Not hungry." Randall said.

"Okay."

The family then came into the room to see him, to see how he was after a week.

"How are you doing?" Splinter asked.

"I think he's sick, Master Splinter." Mikey said. "The rain got him."

Don came forward. "He does look pale." Then he tried to reach over.

Randall then growled. "Don't you touch me!"

"I just want to feel your forehead." Don said.

When Don tried again, Randall smacked his hand away. "I mean it! Don't touch me!" Don did have a shocked and a little hurt look on his face.

"Guys. Give him some space." Mikey said.

The others walked out. It was clear he was mad at them. Mikey then took the chance of feeling Randall's forehead and he didn't flinch away.

Randall had calmed down. But he did indeed feel warm.

Mikey went out of the room. "He let me feel his head and he does feel warm. I think he does have a fever."

"From all his coughing and sneezing, it's probably just a cold." Casey said.

"Yeah, but until his fever breaks, he needs rest." Don said.

"I know he is mad at us for sending him away, but it was for his own good. Though not the cold. I am sorry he got sick." Splinter said.

"Don't send him away again." Mikey said.

"I won't, but he just had to learn that there will be consequences for bad actions."

"I think he already had that when he was banished and banged up when he first got into our world." April said.

"Yes, but a secret that he kept from us like that had to have some punishment. It could have been worse if I had made it two weeks or longer." Splinter said.

"Right now, he needs care to get better." Mikey said. "Not a lecture."

Randall could hear the voices outside his room. If he would be sent away again, he would make sure to leave for good. He didn't need that aggravation again.

Mikey went and got some cough medicine and cold medicine. He took it to Randall's room.

"Here, Randall, I got you some medicine that might help with your cold and fever." Mikey said.

Randall didn't know if human meds would help him. But it was worth a shot.

Some of it didn't taste too well, but he swallowed it anyway.

"I'll make you some soup for later." Mikey said.

"Alright." Randall said. For the moment, he just wanted to sleep. He sneezed, but fell asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

The others didn't trust Randall now, aside from Mikey, and he didn't trust them anymore. They would have to earn his trust back too.

Leo and Splinter felt bad that he got sick from the rain getting him, and were on the start to make it up to him. They began to make an herb special that would help with his cold.

When he was asleep, Don came back in to check on him. Mikey had gone to make the soup.

Randall was on his left side. Don pulled back the blanket to assess the arm that was hurt and he saw the cast had been replaced with a splint made from tree vines and sticks.

If he had done this, then perhaps it was time he could wear a brace on his hand instead. He asked April if she could get him a brace.

"Sure."

She went to the nearest pharmacy and got a brace. She hoped it would fit. Randall's hands and wrists were a little different than a human's. She got a small one.

When she got home and gave it to Don, he quietly put the brace onto Randall's wrist after he took off the splint.

Randall was so tired from having no sleep all night and the coughing and sneezing. He didn't even feel Don moving his hand about. Now he also felt his forehead and he was warm alright.

Don left to go get a cool, damp washcloth and he put it on Randall's head to drop his temperature. It was a little hard to just put it on his forehead with his fronds in the way, but he managed.

Later, Randall began tossing and turning in his sleep. He seemed to be having nightmares.

Mikey didn't stay far from him for long. "Don! Something's wrong!" He called out.

The family was down in the living room, talking when they heard Mikey call out.

They ran upstairs. Don went into the room and saw that things had gotten worse.

"Hold him still." Don said.

Randall coughed and began talking. "No! No! Leave me alone!"

"Randall, it's alright. I'm just trying to help you." Don said. "We should move him to the infirmary until his fever is under control."

Mikey and Don picked him up and took him to the infirmary while the others went ahead to prepare the bed for Randall.

When he woke up, Leo and Splinter would make sure he got the herbs they had made for him.

Don was sure that though Randall was a monster from a different dimension, he couldn't really be that different from them, as they were reptiles too.

Once he was on the bed, Don began setting up an IV for him, just to keep him hydrated. Someone would need to stay with him at all times until the worst was over. Don was sure he might have also had hyperthermia. He was also hooked up to a heart monitor too, just in case. He wasn't taking any chances.

The infirmary was kept as a sterile and cool room. Randall's body temperature was pretty hot right now.

In his dream world, the others could see that Randall was in a lot of mental pain. He kept on rolling around. Don ended up giving him a sedative to calm him down and just let him sleep.

Mikey didn't want to leave him, so he was welcome for the first watch. A cloth was once again on Randall's forehead. The sedative was supposed to keep Randall out for awhile.

Once Randall was stable, Mikey sat by him. He hated to see his friend like this.

The others all couldn't help but feel bad for what happened. And they didn't like their baby brother to be mad at them. But they got mad at him often enough.

Splinter felt bad Randall was sick, but he didn't regret not sending him away as a punishment.

…..

Hours later, Randall finally woke up. He was weak and his vision blurry. He looked around and didn't know where he was. When he saw his surroundings, he almost thought he was in a lab.

"Uh, where… am I?" He tried to move.

"Randall?" He heard a soft but firm voice.

Leo had taken over Mike's shift so he could get some rest.

Randall made out green and blue. He moaned.

"Randall, do you know who I am?" Leo asked.

"Leonardo." Randall said.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Crappy."

"You have a really bad cold, and hyperthermia, Don said. Your body temperature was real high. You have a fever." Leo explained. He reached over and touched Randall's face. "It feels lower now. It must be almost gone."

The touch had gotten Randall's attention. "Where's Mike?"

"He's resting too. He didn't sleep last night because he couldn't wait to get you."

Randall wasn't awake for long. He went back to sleep. Only rest would help him get better.

Leo was sure they were past the most critical time now. His fever was close to breaking.

Raph took over next.

"You just better not keep anymore secrets like that from us again if you are staying in our family." Raph said. "I think you did need a punishment like that, but not this." He meant the sickness.

Randall didn't wake up once on Raph's watch. But he did on Don's watch.

He was still very weak, but he tried to come around some more. His vision made out Don's green color and purple mask.

"Your fever finally broke." Don said.

"I still don't feel good."

"That's normal. You'll be on bed rest for at least a few days. Leo and Splinter made you some herbs to help with recovery. Do you think you can take it?"

Randall didn't like being sick. "Yes."

Don left to get the medicine and he returned with it. It had been made into a tea that Randall had to drink.

Randall didn't particularly like the taste, but Don encouraged him to drink it down.

"What was that stuff?" Randall demanded to know.

"Lomatium. It might help to get rid of your cold faster than taking typical Tylenol." Don said. "Do you feel like eating anything?"

Randall was slightly more awake now. He was still giving Don a glare. Then he felt his stomach growl.

"Maybe a little."

"Mikey made you some soup. That's the best food right now."

Randall's coughing and sneezing had calmed down, but then he did sneeze. He hoped he would get better soon.

Don went to go warm up some soup for Randall.

Mikey was now up. "How's he doing, Don?"

"He's doing better, but he's still weak. Maybe you could take the soup up to him, since you made it for him." Don offered.

"I'd love to." Mike said.

The soup was warmed up and Mikey took some in a big bowl up to his friend.

Randall sat up more in bed when he saw Mikey had a big bowl of soup for him.

"What soup is it?"

"It's chicken and noodle soup. It helps me and my brothers when we get colds." Mikey said.

The soup was on a tray. Mikey sat it over Randall's middle.

To Randall, this was the first time anyone ever showed real concern for him when he was sick. Because this was a real family. But he was still mad at them for sending him out there. If he hadn't been out in the rain in the first place, this wouldn't have happened!

He began to eat the soup and it tasted good. He began eating the whole bowl. He must have been hungrier than he thought.

"Thanks."

"No problem. As soon as you're well, we can do things again." Mikey said. "Though, Master Splinter still might have you doing other things too. I don't know yet."

Randall looked down at his hurt hand. He saw he had a brace on it instead of the splint.

"Who did this?"

"April got a brace for you. So you wouldn't have to wear the sticks and vines. Does it fit okay?"

"It's fine."

"That's good. Well, I'm going to take this down to the kitchen. You must have been hungry."

"Guess I was." Randall said.

Mikey took the bowl and tray out of the infirmary.

Randall saw he must have been in the infirmary because it was like a hospital room. He could feel the chill in the room now. He pulled the blankets more over him. It was clear his fever was broken. He was starting to feel better.

Don later took his IV out and heart monitor off. "It was just for safety reasons. You were out of it for awhile." He said.

It was well past nine now. This had happened all in one day.

Mikey came back into the room and took the cot across from Randall. He just wanted to be near him.

Don made sure everything was fine and he left them alone for the night. "I'll see how you are in the morning. Get some rest." He said before leaving.

Randall was still drowsy. At least he could sleep all he needed to. The meds seemed to be helping him tone down on the coughing and sneezing. It didn't take him long to find sleep.

Mikey wished he could have talked about what happened out there, but it could wait for when Randall was well again.

…..

The next morning did find the two friends up early and talking.

Randall talked of swimming and taking the cast off he was so mad at being forced to endure that. He lost his contacts. He had killed fish and deer for his food. He had made tools out of sticks and rocks like how the turtles had shown him.

Mikey was impressed with Randall's ability to adapt so well out there. Randall sure didn't kid around. He knew how to take care of himself.

The story was later told to the family too. Splinter knew he could do it. He was proud of him for standing out there on his own four feet. Randall was worthy to be in the wilderness knowing survival techniques. But he too needed others looking out for him.

Randall was laid up in bed for three days. After the first 24 hours, he was allowed to go back to the guest room. He continued to get better.

When he was up on his feet again, Randall's color became more normal again. He had just been awfully pale while he was sick. He still had some of a stuffy nose, but the herbs seemed to be helping to get rid of it faster.

And now that he was well enough, April had Randall help her out with some housework too. That was another part of his punishment, but taking it easy on his injured hand. He did well.

Randall hated house cleaning, but knew it was necessary. He just did it to get it over with. He did like to be doing something. Just not exactly this chore.

He really hoped the family would learn to trust him again, but then, had they ever really trusted him? Mikey seemed to, but did the others?

…

Back in New York, the Foot had been looking for the turtles and this lizard for weeks. Nothing. But the Shredder was sure they were out there. He ordered his Foot ninjas to still keep on the lookout for them. They would catch up to them again, sooner or later.

 **It'll be some quite a few days before I can post again because I'm going to be moving over the weekend and waiting for new Internet hookup next week. But I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. And I hope you have been enjoying this story. But I'll still keep on checking in.**


	14. Chapter 14

After spending a month out at the farmhouse, the mutants, humans and monster were coming back to the city. April and Casey both had jobs to get back to, but had needed some vacation time.

Randall was more than ready to get back to the city. He just wasn't much of a country fan. But he was glad for the extra survival techniques. But he was still a little stand offish to everyone but Mikey, but he put up with Don too.

The first night back home, Don took the brace off of Randall's arm to see how it did. "Does it hurt at all?" Don asked.

Randall shifted his wrist around and even stood on it. From two weeks ago, it had drastically improved so much. "No, not really."

"I want to get a new x-ray to see how the bone looks."

Randall had no objections to it.

A new x-ray was taken and the bone looked to be completely healed. But Randall was still welcome to use the brace if needed. "I'll just keep it in here should you need it." Don said.

"Thanks, but I don't think I do." Randall said. Then he went to the living room and he and Mikey played some video games.

The family was all unpacked now, but they were still weary of Randall, considering he had been so mad at them and he still was upset with them.

That evening, the turtles went for an evening patrol. Randall didn't feel up to going. His lungs were still recovering a little bit from his cold. Splinter had gone to bed.

Randall was up watching the news. He saw that there was bad news going on upside. He hoped the turtles would be alright.

The turtles had taken the truck when Don said he wanted to surprise Randall with something, but first, they had to find one. They visited three different junkyards. They did find what they were looking for: a mattress!

Randall had been with them for over two months now and he still didn't have his own bed in the lair. But the better question would be, where would the mattress go?

"Mikey could share his room." Leo said. "Since Randall seems to trust him the most."

"Why do I always have to share my room?" Mikey whined.

"At least this time, it's with another guy." Raph said.

"Yeah, April was different when she stayed because she's a girl." Don said.

"True. And I care about Randall as if he's another brother. But it would be nice to keep my room to myself." Mikey said.

"Well, unless there's another lair around somewhere. Then Randall can have his own space." Don said.

It almost did sound like a good idea. Randall's mind hadn't been tampered with by Bishop, but he did have a temper too. But first thing first was getting him his own mattress to start out with. Perhaps it would do all of them some good if Randall did move a least a little ways from the lair, like Leatherhead, so he could have his own space.

The turtle brothers got the mattress out of the dump and took it to the truck. This was going to be a special surprise. They were doing this out of how much they did truly care. But until a new lair could be found for Randall, Mikey would be sharing his room again with him, temporarily.

The mattress was left up in the warehouse and Randall was later brought up when they got it home and he was surprised. He was allowed to try it out and it seemed fine. He would take it as his own. The turtles were happy for him.

After the others had left, Mikey sat down on the mattress with Randall to talk. "How do you feel about moving to your own lair, Randall?"

"Well, sometimes it does feel a little overwhelming in your family. I've just always been on my own and I loved living on my own in my world. But there, I had a job to go to every day. Here, I can't walk around in public like I could there. I don't have a job. What would I do?"

"You would still be welcome to hang out with us. I like having a best friend when most of the time, my bros just ignore me and they wonder why I do pranks on them just to get their attention." Mikey said.

Those words made Randall smile. It was often funny to watch. But it did warm his heart to hear Mikey call him his best friend.

The two of them went back down to the lair in the elevator. They watched a movie together and after that, while Mikey went to go read some comics, Randall went to Don's lab. He needed to talk to him.

Don was working on trying to get his newest software to work.

"Donatello." The turtle heard his name and he jumped a little. He turned. He let out his breath.

"Oh, Randall. I didn't know you were there. Is there something you need?" Don asked.

"Why would I be standing here if I didn't?"

"You aren't still mad at us, are you?"

"Now why would I be mad at you? Just that no one stood up for me before being forced to do that just so suddenly and no time to prepare for it. But that's not why I came here. I came to ask about a new lair that was mentioned to me." Randall said. "You guys want me out of here, don't you?"

"It was more of we figured that you seem to handle yourself so well on your own and that it might get to be dealing with us all the time that you might like a place of your own. It's not about punishment anymore." Don explained. "We had to find Leatherhead a home of his own because his temper was more than we all could handle and when he nearly killed Mikey, and he knew he was too dangerous to keep on staying with us. But that wasn't his fault. Bishop had tortured him and tampered with his mind."

With hearing that, Randall was sure he wouldn't want to meet this Bishop anytime soon.

"With what I told Mike, yeah, I'm all for living on my own to have my own space and time for myself, but when I'm up, what would I do to feel like I have a purpose? I don't have a job anymore. Of course, Mike said I was welcome to come back here anytime I felt like it."

"That's true. You are welcome to come here anytime. But as far as jobs go, you can help me here in the lab, hang out with Mikey. You have your own rambunctious behavior, you make a good friend to him, and give him someone to talk to when we decide to do our own things." Don said.

"And April could even use help at her shop at times." Then something popped into Don's head. "I have an idea. April does have a room in her basement that used to house a tenant there. It's not in use now. What do you think?"

"I could try it out. But no one goes down in the basement besides her, right?"

"April doesn't go down in the basement very much. Though she does call me over sometimes to fix her water heater. So the basement would be all yours. And you could help her out and it would give you time for yourself too. And we all come over for sleepovers sometimes too." Don said. "So we would still see each other."

"And I would need to call before coming over."

"I can give you a shell cell of your own and show you how to work it." Don said. "And you could use April's phone too. This is all something to think about. But until it's decided, you could stay in Mikey's room again."

"No. I like the living room better. No one stays there when you all go to bed and Mike's cat sleeps in his room. I don't need claws in me every morning." Randall said.

"I'll talk to April about letting you move into the basement apartment or the room." Don said. "But you have to be trustworthy that you won't steal or do things that are not right."

"I have always been responsible with my money and how I did things in living in a home somewhere. I always paid my bills on time."

"I don't think April will make you pay rent at least."

"It would be nice to have my own money."

"True. But you would need to talk to her about that." Don said.

"Well, you talk to her soon. I'm going to go do something else." Randall said.

Randall went to the kitchen where he did make himself a cup of tea. He was sure Leo wouldn't mind if he used it. He just needed time to think about this.

It would be nice to live in an actual home again and not be hated for it. The turtles had done much for him such as letting him live with them and helped him with his injuries and when he got sick. But the sickness had been from a punishment that didn't need to happen from something that was from way in the past.

He just hoped April would trust him enough to live in her basement. He did want to learn how to use Earth money too if he was going to live here. Of course, April would have to be willing to do the shopping for his food.

When Randall had left the lab, Don felt relieved that he hadn't lost his temper with him. He knew by now that Randall did hold grudges. But if he really wanted to remain a better person for himself, he really needed to know what forgiveness was.

Sure, it was never easy to forget punishments, but the ones who got them also needed to forgive their punishers. But Splinter had thought it was the right thing to do.

It was late, but Don got out his shell cell and dialed April's number. He went to his room and closed the door so they could have a private conversation.

April picked up. "Don, you sure are calling late." She said.

"I know April. Look, I'm calling because as I know that you have that empty basement room after Kirby was lost to that different dimension." Don said.

"Yes. What about it?"

"Since it needs a tenant and someone here needs some more space from us, would it be alright if Randall had the room?"

"I'm not sure, Donny. I don't know if I can trust him."

"He said he pays his bills and everything, though here he doesn't have any money. He liked having his own space. He kept his place clean enough. He's pretty quiet when he's by himself, April and he's serious enough. He said he's even willing to help you if you need it. He seems to trust you more than Casey."

"Well, Casey does come over and we hang out together as a couple too. I don't need him trying to tell us what our own business is."

"I'm sure he would leave you alone in that department. He would have his room when you and Casey get together. But he just wants to feel useful too, April, and have his own place to live."

"I'll think about it, Don. I'll get back to you in a couple days." April said.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Good night." She said.

"Good night." They hung up.

Don now left his room and went to go find Randall. He was still in the kitchen.

"Randall?" Don said.

The lizard looked up at him. "What?"

"I called April."

"What did she say?"

"She said she'd think about it. She's still weary of you. But she'll get back to me in a couple days."

"Alright."

Don sat down close by him. "You know, we do want to continue being your friends. You shouldn't hold grudges against ones that care about you. Yes, if they are a deadly enemy, that's one thing, but you make yourself a better person when you forgive the ones in your home who you feel wronged you."

"I know you feel like my father hurt you like he did when he wanted you out for what you did and yes, it was awhile ago. Back when my brothers and I were kids, he was always telling us not to go to the surface and once we got the lid off, we did. We tried to help this kid who was having trouble with other street kids. They were always beating him up. I'm not sure what happened to him, but we were found out about it and Splinter made sure we trained for about three days straight." Don explained. "He could have done something like that instead."

"At least you were at home and you had food and supplies and you didn't have to worry about struggling for your meals." Randall said.

"We did struggle to get our food often times, Randall, when we were younger. Before we had human friends to help us out, life down here was a struggle just to get by with little to no food at times. Splinter had to do everything himself and it was often stealing. It was hard to be a single parent raising four sons, but he was still a good father to us."

"Even though he adopted you as his sons, at least you had someone to call a father. I didn't have any parents. Foster parents and orphanages just don't like reptile monsters in our world. I'm lucky to be alive. The little to no food thing as kids is something we had in common, when I had to compete with older kids and bullies among them and when you're last to the table, and too many others to feed, you often go hungry." Randall said.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Master Splinter always made sure we got our fair share. He would go hungry before letting us go hungry when he did find food for us." Don said.

"No one ever stuck up for me. Even I had to steal out of the fridge or a piece of bread off the counter so I could at least eat something."

"We'll make sure that never happens again to you, as long as you are willing to stay our friend. If she lets you have the room, April would be more than happy to get you food that you need. I know you want to do it yourself, but you have the same limitations here as we do about going above ground."

Randall knew Don was right. Whatever April decided, Randall would promise to hold up his deal in the end to make the apartment deal work out. He would keep to himself when he wouldn't work alongside her or he would go visit the turtles.

After this talk, Randall knew he could forgive Don for what happened. He was one to go to for problem talks. Splinter and Leo could also be gone to for it, but he was still weary of them. Leonardo might have been leader of the turtles, but Splinter was still patriarch of the household and he decided who stayed and who went.

 **I had moved this past week, so that was why I didn't post all week. But I hope you enjoy this new chapter.**


	15. Chapter 15

For two days following that talk, Don waited for April's call.

At her place, April straightened up that room and she would lay down some ground rules for Randall to follow. She would give him a chance. He needed to learn to trust humans more anyway, at least her.

She didn't mind if he shared food with her and helped her in the shop, as long as he knew not to scare customers away or be seen. And also not to disturb her when Casey would come over for romantic evenings and meals.

Those were her basic rules.

On the evening of the second day, as promised, Don got the call.

"Alright, Don. He can move in, but there will be rules I'll have to go over with him when he's here. How much stuff does he have?"

"Aside from the tools he came with in a backpack, not much really." Don said.

That was good. The room already had it's own bed and sink and bathroom. It even had a dresser. Everything that was left over from when Kirby had been there. All the files that had been under the bed and around the room had been taken out and disposed of or given to a charity. A comic type charity.

"I'll be happy to tell him. So when is it best for you?"

"Let it be Friday before you bring him over." She said.

"Thanks, April." Don said.

"No problem."

After hanging up, Don went to go tell Randall the good news.

He was with Mikey playing video games again.

"Randall."

The surprise visit surprised Randall and his game character was shot down. "Hey! I worked hard for that high score!"

"Sorry, but I got the good news from April. She says you can move in this Friday." Don said.

"Really? That soon?" Randall asked.

"Does he have to go, Don?" Mikey asked.

"It would do you both good to be separate sometimes, Mikey." Don said.

Mikey didn't want Randall to go. But in Randall's mind, he did want to go. He wanted his space some more too. This lair was nice, but too many family members lived here. It was overwhelming when you felt you couldn't breathe to get away from company.

"And here, Randall. I made this for you." Don handed Randall a shell cell.

"My own phone. Thanks, Don."

"You're welcome." Don said.

Randall left to go pack up his stuff, not that he had much. He just wanted the stuff he came with to go with him. He later went to Don to have him show him how to work the phone.

Mikey was mad that Randall wanted to go.

Randall came to his room at bedtime that night to talk to him.

"Listen, Mike, I know you were mad that I'm choosing to go live at April's house, but I really need more space than this place can offer me. I just need something different and I want to give it a try. If it doesn't work out, I'll come back, I promise. But I'll still come by to hang out." Randall said. "Or you can come by to hang out with me."

"It still wouldn't be the same though." Mikey said.

"No, not exactly the same. But sometimes living apart can make us even better friends. I just don't feel comfortable around some members of your family all the time. I feel like they don't trust me either." Randall said.

Mikey knew his two oldest brothers and father were still having problems trusting him after he told of what he nearly did two years ago. Maybe it was for the best.

"Alright. I'll help you move or whatever you need me to do." Mikey said.

"Thanks."

A few days later, Randall was moving to April's basement apartment. It was just a one room to live in, but he had the whole basement too. At least it didn't smell like a sewer.

Don was installing a TV and VCR for Randall too, when he had his own down time alone. April had bought them for him. And even when Mikey would visit. He was sure to visit more. Don also installed a microwave and a little fridge that Casey had bought.

April had talked to Casey that Randall was moving in to her basement. Casey hadn't been happy about it, but he went along with it.

Randall tried out the bed. It was comfortable. This space would do fine.

Once he was settled and the turtles had left him to settle in for real, April went over the ground rules with him.

Randall was welcome in her apartment when he wanted to be or when customers were there. He was welcome to help out in the store. He could share her food or just use what was his in his own room.

He also had to respect that Casey was her boyfriend and when he was over, Randall had to give them their privacy. And Randall was free to come and go as he pleased, as long as he was careful. April didn't need her home destroyed a second time.

"I can respect all those rules, April. What about money?" Randall asked.

"I can give you some for working for me. If you call it a fair deal." She said.

"Thanks. I know I can't shop for the things I need myself, but I've seen how the turtles get food out there sometimes when they are on patrols and get hungry and buy hot dogs for example. They still give money for it." He said.

"Yes. They do. They try to be fair. I also give them money too so they can get some things they need or want. Casey does too from his mechanic job."

Randall knew the turtles needed human allies to just be able to survive in this world. After what Don had told him. Their lives were better now than when they were kids.

His life had been better at least when he got out on his own, when he had his own money to spend on his apartment and on his food.

"How much would you pay me?"

"Let's see how you do the job first." April said. "But I promise I'll give you something next week. Until then, you're welcome to share what I've got and I'll get you some food tomorrow. Just give me a list of what you want."

"Sure."

April left him to get settled in. She left the door open. It didn't have to be closed.

After she was gone, Randall looked around the room that was now supposed to be his. This room was nearly comparable to what he lived in back in the monster world. He couldn't afford a luxury place. Waternoose had been rich, but he had not been.

His home in the monster world had been a one bedroom with the living room being the bedroom, one closet, one small bathroom, and a small kitchen. There had been barely any room for anything in it. Even for a table. He had a small chair and couch in there as well, but it made for such crowded space.

When Randall had agreed to make that machine for Waternoose, and his boss had promised him all the fame and money he could want. But that had never happened.

Randall knew April had promised him money next week. He just hoped he got better than what he made as a scarer. But would April make him pay rent? He couldn't afford to get kicked out. But then, he would go live with the turtles again, but he really needed his space.

The next day, Randall got up at seven and showered. Then he went upstairs with his list of things he wanted. He had breakfast with April. She was a good cook herself.

April had found herself living with another houseguest, but at least it was just one this time and this one didn't act like a spoiled child.

Randall only had a desire to live in the place assigned to him and just have a working relationship with April. But plus a friend too.

After breakfast, she went down to show him what he could do to help her in the shop. He would need to mostly stay out of sight, as there were humans passing by. "I do have my invisibility to stock in here." Randall said.

"I check all the customers out. But what you can do is put things on shelves, organize things, clean things, and restock when needed. And garbage too. I know it's not the best job, but it's something. But if you want to go hang with the guys, just let me know."

"Alright."

April did like to keep her shop looking nice. She showed Randall where all the cleaning supplies were. Garbage would only be done at night if he would do it every day or every few days.

April was pretty lenient on him. She wanted to give him freedom to be himself and not in a job that was so stressful. She knew he wanted to make something of himself.

She saw that he seemed bored with the job.

"Okay. Randall, how about this?" She began.

Randall looked at her while he had been stocking some shelves.

"You help me out in the early hours of the day, from nine to three, then you can have the rest of the day to yourself. How's that?" She asked.

"It would be nice, but then I wouldn't make enough money."

"I see you understand the concept of money, but it's not like I'm asking you to pay the bills, Randall. I know that aside from the guys, you don't have any other place to go."

"So, you're not asking me to pay you rent?"

She laughed. "No. Whatever I give you is what you keep for yourself. You are staying here for free because you are a friend to the turtles. And becoming mine."

Randall smiled. This was awfully generous of her. No one had ever been that generous to him about where he lived, as an adult that is.

"I've always paid rent before I was banished."

"For right now, let's not worry about it. If you want that arrangement later on, then you can give me rent, but let's wait until you have money first, okay?"

"I do want that arrangement. I just feel like I have to pay my way somehow when I live in someone else's house."

"I won't make it a big deal. Because you're not human and can't get a job out there in the real world here, it would only be a small fee. But let's wait and see next month. We'll see what you make in one week, and see what the total is in one month." April advised.

"I can agree with that." Randall said. He knew he would be determined to do a good job.

….

Back in the lair, Mikey sure did miss Randall. But he did notice that his father, Leo, and Raph all seemed more relaxed without him there.

Mikey hoped that Randall called and wanted to hang out later.

….

The day was particularly slow in the shop for customers. April did step into a back room with Randall and did practice some ninja training with him. He saw that she too, did some training.

April definitely wasn't a helpless woman. She was one strong woman. She was so supportive of the guys and him. She hadn't known if she could have prevented Splinter from sending him away that time, but she still was his friend.

He did kid around with her and showed her what he could really do that would make him even a good adversary. He wasn't a big giant monster like Sullivan, but he had his own talents that enabled him to fight in special ways. His invisibility being the top way to fight. And climbing the walls.

April saw that potential in him, but there were some humans out there that might even learn to bypass his talents and still catch him anyway. Like if they would wear body heat goggles. Then his invisibility wouldn't help him at all. But climbing walls could. But hopefully, he would be able to stay safe most of the time.

Randall did a good job stocking and cleaning that day. Then he called Mike up and asked if he wanted to come over.

Mike was up for it. He told Leo where he was going and left. He just wanted to spend time with his friend.

When Mikey had left, the others noticed that maybe this was a good thing. It would be good to have Mikey off their shells for awhile. He could get out of the lair more often instead of annoying them when he was bored.

When he got to April's, Mikey hit a button on his phone and it alerted Randall. This was a way that wouldn't have to make April do anything. Randall let him inside and they went down to the room to talk and play some games.

April went shopping for food items that Randall wanted, along with her own. And when she got back, she, Mikey, and Randall had dinner together. It was a nice way to celebrate the first day.


	16. Chapter 16

April wasn't going to make Randall work on weekends, other than just any garbage. Throwing trash in the dumpster out back.

The family came over on Sunday to see how Randall was doing so far. Randall said he liked it here so far. But it had only been two days.

Randall was still interested in doing a few patrols a week, just not every night. Maybe just two nights a week would have been fine. But he would have to be down in the lair to start out with them, although they could come to him too. They would work it out.

…

By the end of next week, April paid Randall as she said she would do. She would only pay him in cash, as he wouldn't be able to cash it himself.

Randall counted it. He counted $100. Then he looked at her.

"It's a lot for low income, but it's better than nothing."

"Thanks, April." He said.

"You're welcome. But save it as much as possible." She said.

"I plan to." He said.

He was glad to get his first payment. In his world, he would have been paid a bit more, but he wasn't there anymore and he didn't have to find a real job anymore, so he accepted what he got. If he kept on saving it, he could have enough to pay even $200 in rent to April, but he had to wait until next month to start paying the rent he felt he should pay.

…

Over the course of the next few weeks, Randall did his best working in April's shop during the day, and making sure to not be seen. He mostly stayed in the back of the shop, where he wasn't noticed as much. If someone came into the shop, he instantly vanished. His hearing was really good, so even if it was no one other than April, he still vanished for good measure.

April saw that his vanishing reflex was strong. But she was proud of him that he was remaining secretive from the public.

She paid him weekly. His work ethic was high. If the job was more demanding than it was, she would have paid him higher wages, but the job was fairly slow and calm. So both April and Randall had times to just relax and talk between customers.

Even though Randall was living in April's apartment building, he and her were getting to know each other more, but only as friends and a business relationship. He was keeping his end of the deal in letting April have her private evenings with Casey when he came over and wasn't looking for a vigilante night.

Randall went over to the turtles' lair a few nights of the week to hang with Mikey and Don mostly. Especially on the evenings when Casey came over for romantic evenings.

Randall went out on patrols a couple of days a week. He was still just as good at scaring his enemies as ever. And he was still good at scaring. He swore the adults were more scared of him than the kids were.

It was now the month of early August. It was hot and humid outside. Hot for humans, but good night air for the reptiles.

Randall had started to organize his days carefully what he was going to do, after his work shifts with April.

Saturdays and Sundays were for hanging out at the lair for fun. One day for Mikey, one for Don. Mondays he also started going to Leatherhead's place too. He did want to get to know the big crocodile more. And LH was clearly fine with it.

Tuesdays and Thursdays were his patrol nights with all the turtles. Fridays he wanted for himself, and Wednesdays were for trying to hang out with Leo again. He was trying to gain the leader's trust again and Leo was trying to help him in his reforming. And some of it was for Splinter as well.

Randall didn't hang out much with Raph. But he would go on patrol with him sometimes on his patrol nights if they decided to split up. Randall had his own phone, but he had to rely on his invisibility at times to stay safe and he couldn't be carrying anything. If there was an emergency, he and whichever turtle he was with would rely on the turtle's phone.

That was the new schedule that Randall had come up for himself. He would always go to bed real tired each night. It definitely kept him busy instead of just sitting down in the basement alone.

Sometimes on the weekends, before Casey would come around, Master Splinter would make a trip over to April's to have their own little practice sessions in a back room. One time when Randall was on his way out, he did catch sight of what was going on.

He was still careful around the wise rat. He didn't want to betray his trust again.

Splinter had a small talk with Randall that even though he didn't live with him and his sons anymore, it would still be wise to keep up his ninja training he had started. He would be happy to help him out and have private sessions with him or he would work out with April.

Randall had his own ways of fighting enemies. He could only learn so many different kinds of ninja moves because his anatomy was way different than the humans or the turtles. Most of the ninja moves were more for two legged beings.

Randall agreed on private lessons along with April. He did need some sparring partner. And April was clear to not go easy on her just because she was a female. She was a determined woman and not a damsel in distress. Though there had been the rare occasion.

…..

The Foot Clan had seen the turtles were back in town and they were under orders to find out all they could about this lizard that had been seen with the turtles. A few at a time would edge near their enemies.

Leo began to have sixth senses about being watched. It made his brothers edgy too. If Leo told them to vanish, they all would find places to hide. It was easy for Randall, to just really vanish, but he stayed close by.

The humans actually saw the lizard's disappearing act. How did he do that? They would find out soon enough.

And with things that kept on happening why the turtles were so on edge had Randall asking why they even protected humans when he had seen how dangerous and stupid they were to pollute and hunt and kill everything that was different to them?

"We know they do those things, and that's why we just usually defend and fade away, the way of the ninja." Leo said. "But we also don't like to see others being bullied to others, and that's why we protect them when we do."

"Randall, you've come a good long way from what you did two years ago. And you've helped us when we needed it most. We know it's not always easy to understand why we protect humans when we know how dangerous they can be, but protecting the ones out there who need us also gives our lives meaning, in that we are doing something right, even if it means not always getting the gratitude we deserve. But then, it's just better to not be seen." Don added on.

Randall could understand the part on not being seen. The turtles, even Raphael at times, were showing him a better way of living and treating others than how say like what the RORs had taught him back in the day. And when he saw how Mikey loved being a super hero, this was the best way he got to do that too.

The turtles may not have gotten the gratitude they deserved for saving human lives from the humans, but at least they did do something useful with their lives and their time. It gave meaning to their lives and it made them feel proud of themselves for getting bad guys out of the way, even if it meant near sacrifices. It was about protecting those you care for, despite judgments.

…

Another enemy was back in town and he needed something to finalize on his army of super soldiers. He decided he needed Splinter.

Bishop knew Splinter was unique among the mutants because he was the only mammal mutant.

He set about orders to find the mutant family. They sent devices into the sewers and the devices traveled everywhere.

When the agents were sure that some had reached their destination, sound began to be heard. Sonic sounds.

On this Monday, Randall was down in Leatherhead's lair, working on a project with him and learning the chemistry of it. The sounds started and it hurt both their ears.

"What is that noise? Make it stop!" Leatherhead cried out.

"I don't know! But it's driving me crazy!" Randall added.

The sonic sounds were also driving the rats in the sewers crazy too.

In the lair, it was also affecting Master Splinter as well. It was hurting his ears more than it bothered the turtles.

"We have to get him out of here." Don said.

They got into the elevator and got in the Battle Shell to maybe head to April's place. But there was still no escape up top either. They saw it was affecting rats, but not humans.

A helicopter located the turtles' truck and tried to capture it. Raph was driving and he did some swerving, but eventually, some pieces got into their truck and they let out some gas grenades.

The gas was so powerful that the turtles couldn't breathe and Raph swerved right into an abandoned alley. It was near Leatherhead's home.

Don hit an emergency button on his phone before the turtles jumped out of the truck just to have some clean air. They were immediately unconscious.

Leatherhead began to hear a beeping sound and still holding his ears, he saw on his phone that there was an emergency up top. Despite the sonic sounds, he said to Randall, "There is trouble on the topside just above us. It's the turtles."

Randall nodded and they both went up top to find out what was wrong.

They managed to get topside and looked outside. There were black trucks parked all around the turtles' truck. LH had a plan.

"Stay here until I handle the men in black. I recognize them as Bishop's men. Then I'll need your help to make sure the turtles and Splinter are alright." LH said.

"Alright." Randall said.

Randall saw how mad Leatherhead got and he went out full attack on the humans. He knew he didn't want to be attacked by him. But he would fit in perfectly in the monster world if given the chance.

Randall did have his new contacts in and while he saw Leatherhead attacking the men in black, he saw some agents take Splinter out of the truck and they took him into one of theirs. He couldn't let that happen. He saw the turtles were unconscious and were of no help at the moment.

The lizard groaned and he ran as fast as he could to catch that truck that took off with Splinter.

"Subject has been apprehended, Agent Bishop."

"Good." Bishop said on the other line.

Splinter was now to be taken to a secret lab.

Randall caught up with the truck and jumped onto the side of it. He climbed up to the top of it. It was raining outside, but it didn't matter right now. Randall held on for dear life. He put one of his hands on an antenna on the roof just to help him stay on while keeping all the rest of his feet and hands hooked to the truck. And he knew being in the rain was a risk, but he wasn't letting these human monsters take off with his friends' sensei.

When Leatherhead was finished with the humans, he looked around for Randall. "Randall, where are you?" There was no answer.

Then he realized that he must have taken off after the truck that had Splinter. He hoped Randall wouldn't get caught by that nasty man.

Leatherhead carried two turtles down to his lair at a time. He could only wait for them to wake up and they would go and find Randall and Splinter.

 **Yes, the ending scene was from Bishop's Gambit, though I have turned it around. This is an AU, where the turtles didn't go to space and Honeycutt is not in this story.**


	17. Chapter 17

The truck with Splinter pulled into a secret lab in Midtown. When humans began getting out, Randall knew to vanish. Now that they were out of the rain, he knew they must be at the hidden lair. He would finally meet the evil Agent Bishop he had heard so much about. But at least so far, he wasn't the target. He would remain hidden until the right moment. He had to see what they wanted.

Two men took Splinter out of their truck and put him on a gurney, strapping him down. He was unconscious just as the turtles were.

Randall kept his distance.

The men moved the gurney to an elevator. Randall watched.

A man hit a button and it closed up.

Randall would find Splinter wherever he was taken. After a few minutes and no humans were around, he got off the truck and went over to that elevator. He pushed the button and it came up a minute later.

He sighed and nervously got on. He only saw a Down button. There were two other levels in this place. He would search the other levels just to be sure. He knew he would have to stay invisible for his own good.

He hit the button for the first level. Down it went.

When he got to that level, he got off and explored. Nothing there. He kept track of remembering the way to the elevator. He got back on and went down the next level. Nothing.

There had to be something on the next level.

…..

The turtles woke up in Leatherhead's lair. "Where's Master Splinter?" Leo asked.

"Gone. Agent Bishop's men took him." Leatherhead said. "But Randall was with me when this happened and I didn't see him take off after them or they took him too."

"Great. Now we have to get Lizard Man too." Raph said.

On one of their other trials with Bishop, the turtles had caught a train that belonged to Bishop. That was their best chance at finding Splinter and Randall.

Mikey most of all hoped that Randall wasn't being experimented on, but all the guys hoped their father wasn't getting experimented on.

Don and the others began tearing the train apart to find some way to activate the train and find a homing tracker in the train to lead them to Bishop's lair. Don hooked up Leatherhead's laptop to the train to dig for information.

Soon, they did find something.

The train was activated and on its way to Bishop's lair to get their father and friend back.

….

Randall finally arrived on the lowest level. What he saw shocked him.

He had never seen so many big humans preserved in big water tubes before. Or it was some kind of preserver, but he didn't care. He had to find Splinter.

He got off the elevator.

Splinter was being drained of fluids right now. He was unconscious yet, but he was showing signs of stirring soon.

Bishop was in the room watching and he was proud of what he was doing.

Randall was soon deep enough into the room and he finally saw Splinter. His eyes widened. Then he saw the human. A man with dark hair, dark glasses, and a black suit on. This must have been Bishop.

Soon, the draining was done and Bishop removed the drains. He then went to check on one of his creations.

Randall got down onto the floor and went over to the rat. He looked him over. He seemed alright, but he knew he had been drained of some of his DNA.

He nudged Splinter. "Splinter." He said in a low voice. He was still invisible.

Splinter moaned.

"Splinter, wake up. I'm going to get you out of here." Randall said.

Randall began undoing the leather straps.

In another room, Bishop noticed a train was coming in, one that he thought should have been destroyed. There were other commandoes around. He said to check it out should it be occupied. He knew the turtles that they would try to rescue their father.

Bishop declared his creation was complete and he would sure show it off to the turtles. He would beat them at their own game with this creation.

Randall had gotten the hand straps and ankle straps undone, but then, Bishop came back into the room. He went a short distance away.

Splinter was now waking up.

"Good, you're awake, Master Splinter." Bishop said.

"Bishop." Splinter said in anger.

Splinter also noticed that some of his straps were loose.

"What do you want?" Splinter asked the man.

"I needed some of your DNA to help complete my army of super soldiers. With your rat DNA being so nearly human, it is now complete and some was also taken from your sons from one of our other meetings." Bishop explained. "I will now have my army of super soldiers and you are such a unique specimen that I'll have you preserved."

A device came down to retrieve Splinter's table. "What will you do with them?" Splinter asked.

"I will send them out into the communities to find out where aliens are."

"What about the innocent ones?"

"It means little to me. It would be beneficial if 57% of the world's population disappeared anyway." Bishop said.

Splinter knew this madman was taking it too far.

Randall saw the gurney put into a tube and started to fill up. And he heard what the man had said too. This was a dangerous human more than any other it seemed.

Then, the door burst open. The turtles were here. Leatherhead had come too, but he had held the door open for them to get through and couldn't get it back up again.

Randall couldn't let the tube fill up. He ran over to the controls and he picked up a pipe and jammed it into the control panel, sending shocks of electricity everywhere. He backed off.

Splinter got the straps loose as they were and he climbed out of the tube. He was a little wet at the feet.

The creation stepped into the room. "This is my Slayer!" Bishop bragged.

The turtles came into the room and had their weapons ready.

"Let our father go, Bishop!" Leonardo demanded.

"You can't stop me! My Slayer will find the aliens and none of you can stop me!"

"The world already has enough evil and it does not need yours. No one has the right to play God!" Splinter said.

"You nor your little green brats can stop me, Rat!"

"We shall see."

"Get them!" Bishop ordered and the Slayer attacked the turtles.

The turtles all fought back, but this thing was very powerful against them and it vanished.

But soon, it got on them again and this time, they pummeled it a bit to where its helmet fell off and a gauntlet fell off too, pierced by one of Raphael's sais.

The turtles were sure to go home with some bruises tonight. Or worse injuries.

The mutants were surprised that the creature looked like Bishop.

"Handsome devil if I do say so myself." Bishop said, coming up beside it. It turned out this creation of his was a cyborg.

Randall saw that this guy was an insane maniac. He was ready to make a move.

The turtles took him on again and it vanished once again. They split up to try to find him.

Splinter began taking on Bishop with a pipe and Bishop was fighting the rat with a long chain.

Around them elsewhere, Mikey, Raph, and Don were taken on all too easily by this thing. They all were kicked and punched all over their bodies.

Leo was hearing his brothers and he tried to go to save them. He climbed up high on to a chain to get a better viewing area.

Randall came away from his spot and he went behind Bishop.

While the man was standing and talking, Randall struck out with his tail and he tripped the man.

Bishop cried out in surprise as he went down.

Splinter's ears perked up as the man went down too suddenly and he wasn't the one that made it happen.

The sharp end of the chain went into the control panel and that was when Splinter got a little glimpse of the familiar form of Randall before it vanished again.

Splinter smiled and then he threw the pipe into the On switch on the panel and electricity got onto the chain and struck Bishop. He screamed in pain and it made sparks go flying everywhere.

Randall had backed off, but there was a blast and all three of them were sent flying.

Splinter landed onto the floor, Randall was thrown into a wall, and Bishop had landed onto a sharp hook.

Leo landed and located the Slayer and he went to deal with him himself. He landed the best blows with his legs and he soon made him land into a tube and Don was up at that time. He sealed the tank. Preserving liquid ran in.

More explosions began going off.

Randall was visible again, but he wasn't unconscious. He was just winded.

Splinter got up and saw where Bishop had landed. Then he saw Randall on the floor. He went over to him.

"Randall, are you alright?" Splinter asked.

Randall groaned. "Yeah, I think so."

"Come on, we must go." Splinter helped Randall to his feet.

As Randall felt his body, his back hurt a little, but there was no major damage.

As more explosions went off, water began filling the lab.

Splinter, Randall, and the turtles all reunited.

"Randall! Are you alright?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The lizard replied.

"We must get out of here, my sons." Splinter said.

Then they looked at where Bishop had been and he was gone! How could he have survived that?

"You will all pay for this the next time we meet!" Were some words from a nearby elevator exit.

The mutants and Randall went after him.

"We can't let him get away." Leo said.

While they climbed out, the place filled with water and the tube with the Slayer in it got rolled into the water and it went down through the sewers and who knows where.

When the guys reached the top of the exit, they saw Bishop was nowhere in sight and they were in the middle of Midtown. Some water ran down the street.

They all ran to an alley to get to the rooftops. It was going to be quite a run to get home.

After running for awhile, they all pulled up to check on each other.

"Is everyone alright?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Don said.

"I think we'll all have big bruises tomorrow." Mikey said.

Raph's shell had been pounded on pretty good. Even his shell had feelings in it. He was lucky none of his ribs were broken.

"What about you, Randall?" Don asked.

"I'll be fine. I was thrown into a wall from an explosion." Randall said. "My back hurts a little."

Don checked his back. "Nothing damaging. Just some bruising."

"Before we move on, my sons, I would like to thank Randall for helping me." Splinter said.

"I did get your straps loose before the guy came back in." Randall said.

"And you helped set the trap for the destruction of his lab, even though he didn't die." Splinter said. "Thank you for your help tonight, Randall."

And now, Randall had helped to save the turtles' father too. But the turtles had all tried to do their part to save Splinter.

They all moved on and soon got near April's place. They were all so exhausted.

Don called April and asked if they could crash at her place.

She said it was fine.

She let them in when they got there and they all collapsed from exhaustion onto the chair, couch, and floor.

"What happened?" April asked.

"Master Splinter was kidnapped by Bishop." Don said.

"I heard him. He said he wanted to create super soldiers." Randall said.

"That's what he's always wanted." Leo said.

"The freaky parts about some creation of his that it looked like him, with plenty of others that looked like him around us. Freaky clones. And this creature could also disappear like you, Randall." Raph said.

"I don't think Randall could have handled that creature. He was super strong. He could have hurt you more than he did us." Leo said.

"Yeah, and my shell's gonna remind me in the morning." Raph said. "He gave my shell a good pounding."

Randall was glad to be back at April's, but he was too tired to go down to the basement.

Mikey called Leatherhead and let him know they were all alright.

Leatherhead was glad to hear it. He could finally relax now too. He had taken the train back home.

It wasn't long until Splinter, Randall and the turtles all crashed from their experience that night. April let them all sleep, and then she went to bed herself.


	18. Chapter 18

The next day, they all woke up after nine a.m. It had been a rough night and they were all sore from last night's events, but happy to be alive.

Raph's shell was sore as he thought it would be. More sore than usual from even how he would be after training.

Randall's back was more sore than it was last night. His skin had darkened to where he had been hit into the wall. Some bruising had shown clear through, and he had begun to get a stuffy nose.

The others had also suffered some big bruising as well. Splinter also had injection site pain from his arms.

When April came out of her room and saw everyone up, but she saw how there were painful moments that she got some ice packs out of the freezer and the heating pad. They needed some of this.

April gave Randall an ice pack for his back. When he put it on, it did send a little shiver down his spine, it was so cold, but it might relieve some of the pain. And she gave him some cold medicine to hopefully stop the cold from getting worse.

"You don't have to work today if you don't think you can." April said.

"It's just a little bruising and a minor cold. It's not like I broke my back. I can still work." Randall said.

"Alright, but if you need to stop, just let me know." She said.

"Yeah."

"Do you guys think you can go home or do you need to stay longer?"

"We'll stay for today, Miss O'Neil. We'll go home tonight." Splinter said.

"I'm just glad none of you are hurt worse."

"So are we, April." Don said.

"Well, if you need me for anything, I'll be downstairs. There's food in the pantry and freezer, whatever you want for breakfast." April said and went down to open up the shop.

She grabbed a granola bar for her breakfast.

Mikey went to the kitchen to make some eggs, toast and pancakes. Randall joined him. He still wanted to cook at times.

Mikey was glad to have his friend cooking with him. He made the eggs while Randall did the pancakes.

Randall already knew that Mike was best at making scrambled eggs. But he saw why too. He was using the wrong sort of tool for turning eggs over. He also made the toast, as not everyone loved black toast.

April and the others did actually like Randall's cooking. He knew his limits to not burn stuff.

It turned into a good breakfast, and April couldn't help herself to come upstairs and share it with her friends. It had smelled so good.

Afterwards, April, Randall, and the turtles all went down to the shop. They all helped her throughout the day this time while letting their father rest upstairs.

Randall found that while lifting some boxes, his back did bother him a bit.

Don noticed him wincing.

"Are you okay, Randall?"

"Just my back."

"I can take a look at it for you." Don offered.

"I'll be fine." The lizard said.

But in the end, when his shift was over, when April released him for the day, they went upstairs and with Splinter now in the chair, and the other turtles standing or sitting at the table, Randall was lying on the couch and Don was examining Randall's back.

Randall had been a bit thin when he had come to New York, but since living with the turtles, with all that fine cooking over the last few months, he had gained some weight to where his spine wasn't showing anymore. But the blow to his back from the wall had been a good one.

Don was feeling and just massaging his back, trying to get him to relax the muscles, but the bruised area was painful. It was right in the area where his back would bend to allow him to stand upright, right in the middle, where his stomach was in the front.

Randall groaned and winced as Don touched the area.

"I don't think there was any significant damage to your spine, but you did take a good hard blow to the wall from that explosion." Don said when he was finished. "It'll heal in a few days."

Randall had kept his head down so Don could do a full exam on his back. He then raised his head. He realized that the massage had felt good on his back, but not so much on the area that hurt.

"Just put some ice on your back a couple times a day and that should help it too." Don advised.

"Thanks."

That evening, the turtles and Splinter went back to their lair. April drove them to their truck where it had been close to Leatherhead's home and then they drove themselves home to the warehouse and then down to the lair.

Randall didn't go with them. He went down to his basement home. He just wanted to rest. But it had been nice to spend the day with his friends and after helping Splinter last night, he hoped Splinter had some restored trust in him.

At the lair, the turtles went about their own activities. There would be no patrols for a few nights after what happened. They just wanted to feel connected again.

When Leo went to his father before he went to bed, he had to ask, "Father, how do you feel about Randall after what happened last night?"

"Last night proved to me that he is trustworthy, my son. He did try to get me out of there and he helped me to defeat Bishop." Splinter said.

Leo was really beginning to believe it. Randall had helped his father, him, Raph, and Mikey. And Don with his inventions and upgrades.

So Randall had gained some trust back after the ordeal with Bishop. He was lucky that Bishop hadn't seen him, or had he? Or the man would want him too later on.

Bishop was not an opponent to take lightly, like the Shredder and his Foot ninjas. Splinter was otherwise the only one of them that could match his fighting skills. But Randall had showed some potential helping him while invisible.

Randall's biggest advantage to his fighting skills was his invisibility. Not everyone knew how to fight what they couldn't see. And Leo was the only one who had been able to do the detection game with him and sensed right most of the time.

When they were all well again, during a session of training, Leo did want Randall to try his invisibility stealth on his brothers too.

….

A couple of weeks later, on a night when Randall came over to hang out, while Casey was with April, and Randall's back and cold were all healed, Leo told everyone that they needed a training session, including Randall.

"Do we have to, Leo?" Mikey whined.

"Yes, you have to, Mikey. I've already done this exercise, but you three should try it too. As Master Splinter sometimes tests us on this, this time, I'm advising it." Leo said.

"What's this session based on?" Randall asked.

"You remember when you tried your invisibility sensing with me?"

"Yes."

"This time, you are doing it on them." Leo said. "You need to learn to handle more than one person too, Randall."

Randall usually fought one person at a time.

"We'll do the sensing one at a time first, and then we'll do it as a group." Leo said. "Raph, you're up first."

"Is he going to be blindfolded too?" Raph asked.

"No. You guys just turn your masks around. You are going to try to sense where he is, but there will be no weapons used." Leo said.

Raph was wanting to try this. Though he wasn't always crazy about doing it while he couldn't see.

Splinter was watching from a distance. He wanted to see if his sons could do this.

Raph put his sais down to make sure he didn't use them. He stood in the middle of the dojo part of the lair and turned his mask around.

Don, Randall, and Mikey and Leo watched him. He was ready.

"Okay, whenever you're ready, Randall." Leo said.

Randall gave a mischievous grin. He instantly vanished.

The others saw that Leo was serious about this. So Randall was even really going invisible on them.

"See if you can find me." Randall said from below Raph.

Raph jerked behind himself and the lizard sounded like he was behind him, but he moved quick. He nearly stumbled. Randall chuckled.

It wasn't easy for Raph to find Randall as easily as Leo did.

"Come on, Lizard. I'll catch you!"

"Oh really?" He said to the left.

Raph hit out his left hand and nearly got him, but missed again.

After ten minutes of trying, Randall finally struck Raph in the back of the legs and the turtle was down, miffed off.

Raph growled.

"Alright, that's enough." Leo said. He had seen enough.

Randall was good at stealth. He reappeared just as Raph moved his mask back around.

"Don, you're next." Leo said.

Don and Raph switched spots. Raph gave Randall a light shoulder punch when he could finally see him again.

"You're such a showoff, Lizard." Raph said, but he smiled at him.

"I know. This is where I specialize in defense." Randall replied.

"It's fine for you to show off, Randall, here at home, but out there, don't get over confident. There will be some out there like me that might sense you even while invisible." Leo said. "But this exercise is also to help you guys out against possible Foot Tech ninjas as well."

"Yeah, since they can disappear too, and we can't see them without special heat goggles." Don said.

"We should see if we can see Randall that way too." Mikey said.

"I don't know about that. I'm not really warm blooded like a human." Randall said.

"We could still try it." Don said.

"Alright, but wait until after Mikey's turn." Leo said.

Raph definitely wanted to try the goggles. But would Randall show up on heat sensing goggles?

Don tried his best, but he couldn't find Randall either. Then it was Mikey's turn.

Mikey also failed the test.

"Let's see you do it, Leo." Mike said.

"Alright." Leo said.

Randall tried all his tricks with side, front and behind him, but Leo was the only one who could sense where Randall was. Even while invisible.

The three others didn't know how Leo did that. Randall was good at sneaking on everyone. But now, it was a change time.

They all got Don's heat goggles on and tried to find Randall that way.

Randall felt like this was cheating, but he dealt with it. He knew they just wanted to find him more easily for a change.

Randall's body temperature did the same as the turtles really. He was still warm enough to be active. He had warmed himself some during the day.

He had to warm himself every day from the sun. Or heat lights in the basement. The turtles had their own heat lamps.

With the goggles' help, they all could find Randall more easily this time, but more of his movements they were able to see. He still appeared cold to the goggles.

Each turtle gave a little touch to small hit on his body when they saw he was close enough. Nothing bad enough for serious injury.

"You know that was cheating." Randall said when they all finished with the goggles.

"Yeah, but we all just wanted to find you for once, instead of just Leo." Don said.

"Okay, put the goggles away. Now it's time we do it as a group." Leo said.

"Are we turning our masks again?" Mikey asked.

"No. This time, he goes invisible, but we are still going to try to find him and if he does anything, he can. He has to learn to fight multiple people sometime." Leo said. "But Randall, if you were ever in a situation where climbing was out of place, and you had to stay around enemies, we need you to stay around us this time. No climbing the pillars. That's what this session is also about."

"I can do that."

"Alright, everyone ready?" Leo asked.

"Yes." They all said and got into stances.

"Whenever you're ready, Randall." Leo said.

Randall sighed and then vanished.

Each turtle tried going in to find him and they each missed, and Randall would do a little trick of his own. He would slap his hands on their shoulders, heads, jump on them, or trip them up.

Leo did locate him a few times, but even he too missed the lizard and got tripped up and hit by him.

Randall was liking this test a bit. He didn't like being hit, but he was giving more hits than getting them. It was not to hurt him anyway, just a game, but one that could really help him one of these days.

Leo was serious about this training, but some of it did need to be a game too. Just to keep it entertaining.

Don and Mikey were having a hard time tagging Randall, and Raph just wanted to get a hold of him.

When Leo finally did call it off, Randall reappeared and Raph grabbed him from behind, but slightly to his left.

Randall growled. "Let go of me!"

Raph had him by the top arms. "Gotcha!" He said in a playful tone.

"Oh, really?" Randall said sarcastically.

Raph's smile faded when Randall pushed his head back into his face and raised himself up on his very hind legs, getting the turtle to release his arms.

Raph backed off, holding his nose. Then he felt his legs being forced out from under him.

Randall had used his tail to trip him. It was one thing he was known for. He did use his tail as a weapon a lot.

Raph cried out when the wind was knocked out of him when he hit the floor.

"That's enough, Randall." Leo said.

Mike and Don couldn't help but laugh.

Raph couldn't help but growl himself. He hated being a loser in a fight, even a mock fight.

"Raphael, you need to control your temper. This is the way he is." Leo said.

"I know. I just wanted to catch him for a change." Raph said.

"Ain't gonna happen so easily, turtle boy." Randall said playfully.

"One of these days." Raph said.

Raph was trying to control himself. He had tried to see this as a game as well as training. There were times when he did compose himself rather calm too and not lose his cool.

He didn't like being made fun of, but neither did Randall. But Randall had seen it more as a game when he outsmarted the turtles quite a bit in training, but he knew it had a serious purpose. He just had a bigger advantage with the invisibility and natural climbing abilities. Randall was a good adversary.

After that, Leo allowed his brothers and Randall to go do their activities again. He had just felt this session had needed to happen. And it would be practiced every so often to keep their skills up at it, should they ever go up like against Foot Tech ninjas, which they would at times.

And now that the worst was past them, Splinter was glad to see that things were improving in relationships again.

Randall hung out with Mikey for the rest of the evening.

 **Made it the halfway point!**


	19. Chapter 19

The next night, when he hung out with Don, no one else wanted to do a junkyard run with him and Randall went with him to hang out and to see what things Don found so useful from the smelly place.

It happened to be the junkyard where some other human friends were, homeless ones, the Professor and others.

Randall had vanished. Don was talking to them.

Don told them he was there with a friend, though he was shy around new humans.

"I would love to meet him." The Professor said.

"Randall, the Professor is a friend. He won't hurt you. Neither will any of the others." Don said. "Come on."

"You're sure?"

The humans heard a voice they had never heard before.

"Yes. They've been our friends for a few years now. You can show yourself." Don said.

Randall appeared to them.

"Wow. That is amazing." The Professor said. "You must be a chameleon?"

"Maybe." Randall said hesitantly.

"He has some chameleon and gecko qualities." Don said.

The older man noticed Randall's fingers after the turtle mentioned it. "The fingers and toes resemble gecko and tree frog toes. Good for climbing surfaces."

"Yeah, I can do that too." Randall said.

"How long have you known Donatello?"

"A few months."

"It is nice to know you, Randall." The Professor stuck out a hand.

To Randall, this human seemed like an okay one. He gave him his upper right hand.

"Randall Boggs." Randall said.

"What about calling you Randy for short?" One other guy asked.

"No thanks. I hate that nickname."

"Okay."

"Well, we need to grab some things before we leave, Professor." Don said.

"It was nice to meet you, Randall." The Professor said.

"Yeah, likewise."

Don and Randall began to go to the junkyard to get some things they needed.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Don asked.

"No."

"Can I ask why you don't like that nickname?" Don asked.

"I used to let people call me that when I was younger. But after my fraternity made me see things in a darker way, and with being humiliated in the Scare Games, I vowed I wasn't going to let others call me that again. It seemed like a kid's name anyway." Randall explained.

"A lot of older people call them Randy for short when they have the name of Randall."

"Yeah, but they allow it. I don't. So just don't."

"Alright. I just needed to know why you didn't like it."

"Now you know."

They got what they needed and went back to the lair without incident, but little did they know that they had been watched by some ninjas. Randall had been seen.

…

A video of the lizard with the smart purple masked turtle was shown to the Shredder and Hun, and Stockman. He sure would be an interesting subject to study.

"He sure doesn't seem like any ordinary lizard." The ninja said.

"Of course he isn't. The next time you see that lizard, bring him to me!" Shredder ordered.

The ninjas started to get prepared for the lizard's capture.

….

Over the course of a couple weeks, the Foot clan was watching for the turtles, and they often saw the turtles, but the lizard wasn't always with them. He was with them a couple times a week.

The night of the biggest encounter of all was when all the guys were out and Casey was with them.

Leo ordered everyone break into pairs. Don and Mikey went west, Raph and Casey went south, and Leo had Randall come with him. He wanted to teach him some more about sensing his surroundings, so he wanted to be alone with him. They headed north.

Randall had gained more trust back even from Leo since he had helped assist his father against Bishop.

They went a few blocks before Leo pulled up and had Randall try to practice sensing anything.

"All I can sense is noisy traffic and still some humans outside." Randall said.

"We really should have you start to fight with weapons soon too, should it ever be needed." Leo said.

"I use my body."

"I know, but it might not always work that way."

"I know how to use other things to my advantage when needed, Leonardo." Randall said.

"Shh!" Leo suddenly perked up and told him for quiet.

"What?"

Then a bunch of Foot ninja appeared.

"Foot ninjas!" Leo said. He instantly took out his katanas.

Randall saw that there was a bunch of them. He knew he could handle one at a time, but this many, of over thirty was not good odds for him alone. But he was sure Leo could help handle them, with the way he fought.

"Have you faced this many before?" Randall asked.

"Yes, and more." Leo replied.

They both braced for a fight. Randall backed close to Leo's back.

The ninjas jumped over to their rooftop.

On instinct, Randall couldn't help but vanish. It shocked the ninjas how he disappeared. They slashed around.

Randall had gotten down on all eights and moved away from the fight. He flashed a smile to himself to see that they couldn't find him.

Leo's swords clashed with ninja swords. He saw Randall had vanished. Without weapons, he couldn't help but know that the lizard would move away.

But the ones that seemed to be looking for something were obviously looking for him. They weren't targeting Leo, but the turtle had his own hands full.

Randall saw that he could use this to his advantage, take care of the ones that were looking for him.

He pounced on some of them and tripped some up. There were only like ten that were after him, but using his invisibility, he managed to beat them. He even threw weapons from knocked down ones into some of the standing ones, sending them down too.

Then there was a cry of pain, as Leo had been cut on one his right bicep. Then his left thigh.

The pain didn't distract Leo for long. He kept on fighting. But his cries had made Randall hold still for a moment.

Then the huge giant man, Hun, appeared, by breaking down a door from a staircase entrance.

Randall saw that this human was not normal. He was a freak among them. More like a gorilla than a human. He had seen him before, with the Purple Dragons.

Hun faced off against Leonardo. "Where's your friend, Turtle?" Hun demanded.

Leo was breathing hard. Pain and blood loss were beginning to get to him. "I don't know what you're talking about." Leo said.

"Don't lie to us, Turtle. We know you have a lizard friend with you. We saw him!"

Randall now knew they were wanting him. He grinned. They could have him. In his own way.

There were some more attacks on Leo and the ninjas could see the turtle was tiring. Then Hun stepped in and at one moment, he hit Leo in the head, causing his head to fly back, and then he was hit in the chest, making him to go flying into the wall.

Leo's cry of pain was evident. That did it!

Some ninjas came and got Leo to his feet by force, grabbing his arms and restraining them. Hun was coming forward, ready to pound him.

Then, there was an, "OW!" A ninja cried out and let go. He held one of his legs.

Then there was another.

There had been four ninjas holding onto Leo. Two were now off him. They didn't know what was going on.

Hun saw the ninjas weren't doing their job and the Shredder would have a field day with them if they failed him.

A third ninja cried out and let go, and that gave Leo the stability he needed to get loose and he began fighting again. And he pressed his shell cell distress button, alerting the others. The numbers were getting bigger.

Hun tried once again to defeat the turtle. This time he got Leo in the plastron, knocking him down to his knees.

Hun was ready to kill poor Leo, as he managed to look up at him as the giant human was right above him.

Leo wanted to take him so badly, like he had many other times, but this time, blood loss was getting to him. His blood was soaking the rooftop. He panted hard from his blow to his plastron, his chest to be exact.

But then, Hun felt movement on his back and he jumped about, but then he felt something that he had never felt before. He felt something scaly like get around his neck.

Leo watched as Hun was now pawing up around his neck area.

Hun was struggling to breathe as whatever it was, got tighter.

Leo wondered what Randall was doing that made the giant man grip around his throat. Surely his arms weren't doing it.

Randall squeezed his body to the tightest he could get his middle. And within just some many seconds, the big human went down onto his stomach, and there was a SNAP!

Leo couldn't believe what he had just seen. The rest of the ninjas were in shock too. Hun had been fighting something he couldn't see.

The rest of the turtles and Casey then showed up to fight off the rest of the ninjas. Randall then appeared by the body of Hun when the rest of the ninjas were being taken care of.

Leo was glad his brothers had shown up, but then he looked up at Randall, who was approaching him.

"Donatello! I need your bag!" Randall called out to the smart turtle.

Don had enough time to take his duffel bag off and tossed it across the roof.

Randall caught it and he unzipped it. "Let's get these bandaged." He said.

"Randall, you- killed Hun?" Leo asked, stunned.

"I couldn't let him kill you. I've seen how he's the most mean of all of them." Randall said, "and he was going to do you in if I didn't do something."

Randall knew that Hun had been like the equivalent size of his old rival, Sullivan. He had nearly done him in once. But certain things had prevented it from happening. But now, Randall had made the kill. But he had done it to save someone versus just hating someone. Hun had deserved it.

Randall soon had Leo's wounds bound up just when his brothers and Casey got over to them, wanting to help. The lizard had helped Leo to his feet. His katanas were back in his sheaths.

There were unconscious ninjas everywhere, but the most shocking thing to see was Hun, lying on the ground, dead.

The others were all looking at Hun's body in shock.

"He's dead. I felt and heard his neck snap." Randall said.

They all looked over at Randall. He had killed the leader of the Purple Dragons and was the Shredder's right hand man. He had been a hard one to ever really fight before.

"He saved my life." Leo said. "Hun was going to kill me if Randall hadn't intervened."

"How did you kill that behemoth?" Casey asked.

"I can use my body like a snake's coils." Randall said.

With his elastic body that they knew he had, it wouldn't have been hard to use nearly like a snake's coils.

"We should get Leo back to the lair to patch up those wounds." Don said.

Raph took over helping Leo to stand. "I gotcha, bro."

"Thanks, Randall." Leo said.

"Welcome."

The turtles, Randall, and Casey went back to the lair.

….

When the Foot later showed up to collect their wounded, they found Hun was dead. There were weird marks around his neck, looking like scales.

That lizard had such a gift of invisibility that it made him dangerous. He had made a kill.

When Shredder heard of the lizard killing his second in command man, he was furious.

"That lizard will pay for this!" Shredder growled.

The ninjas agreed. Hun had often been their biggest backup against their enemies. Now he was gone. And there would need to be a new leader in charge of the Purple Dragons.

The Foot would need to be better prepared to face him to avenge Hun.

….

At the lair, after Leo's wounds had been stitched and bound up again, there was a celebration that at least one deadly enemy was out of the way and for what Randall had done for Leonardo.

For the family, it was amazing Randall, who almost appeared as a delicate lizard, had taken down one of their deadliest enemies. This was the biggest victory thanks to his invisibility.

Splinter was most proud of Randall too. But he had to say something. "Randall, I am most grateful for you having saved Leonardo."

"Thanks, Splinter." Randall said.

"But I do have to give a word of caution, my friend. The Foot ninja are not going to let this deed go unpunished. They will want to seek revenge against you for what you did. They are relentless. They adapt. It's the ninja's nature. And if you ever see the Shredder, he will be your deadliest enemy, as he is covered in armor." Splinter explained.

"I've only seen the ninjas. Never this Shredder that you talk about." Randall said.

"He's your worst nightmare." Raph said.

"His armor is covered by many sharp hooks and his left hand has the longest spikes on them of all. He even used them to kill Master Splinter's sensei, Master Yoshi." Don said.

"I'm sorry, Splinter." Randall said.

"Thank you."

Randall couldn't help but remember all the times back in his former world as a scarer, that he had threatened Fungus with being put through the door shredder. And now, here he was in the human world where there really was an enemy called the Shredder.

"And don't forget that we found out the Shredder may look human to many, but he's not." Mikey said.

"He's an evil little Utrom." Don said.

Randall had never heard of an Utrom before. Well, the turtles and Leatherhead had told him about them, but they were mostly peaceful. All but the one who played the Shredder.

Randall knew that he might meet this enemy one day, but until then, he would just live his life as normally as possible. And right now, his life was pretty good. He was finally being recognized for something good.

He had friends praising him. He was being treated like one of the family and not an outsider. His special abilities had saved them more than one of them since he had been here.

All this was the most respect Randall had had in a long time.

That night, he did stay in the lair too, on the mattress that would be there just for when he stayed over. He didn't really have any nightmare about the kill he had done. He felt proud of himself for killing someone who had actually deserved it, and it was for protecting the ones that cared about him.


	20. Chapter 20

For the few months that Randall had been with the mutant family and their human friends, he had relearned some old ways of some nice manners, and he still kept his wisecracking side, which some people weren't very crazy for, and some others were.

But he had also learned about true friendship. He was learning to trust. That it was good to have a good support system. Others on your side in times of extreme danger and trouble. And when you got hurt. He was learning to use his skills more for good than bad.

At the way he was being treated better here, he didn't really want to go back to the monster world anymore. He'd probably just be thrown in jail anyway. He didn't want to live the rest of his life in a cage.

Later on at one time, when Randall was helping Don in the lab, Don had to ask him, "Randall, I have to ask, the ones that banished you, what do you remember about them?"

Randall didn't like to talk about them, as it just stirred up more bad memories. He gave Don a serious look, but not an angry glare. He looked away and sighed.

"I didn't have many real friends back in my world. Mike Wazowski was a small green one eyed monster. He was my roommate in college and we were friends for awhile, at least I thought we were then. He was a workaholic. I joined a fraternity and that's where it ended us as friends. I thought they were the cool kids. I was always a shy one when I was young. But this fraternity, it was called ROR, short for Roar Omega Roar. They were the top fraternity on the campus. They had a hardness to them and didn't accept weaknesses. They taught me to be harder."

"Wazowski had also joined a fraternity called Oozma Kappa. He was the leader of it with his coaching skills. And another on his team was my strict rival all through our working years together as scarers. James P. Sullivan. I lost to Sullivan in the Scare Games. He embarrassed me greatly and my little mishap in the games did me no good for the rest of my college career too. My fraternity kicked me out just because of that. They didn't like to lose."

"I vowed I wouldn't lose to Sullivan again. But it turned out I was wrong. I went to join this factory that powered our world mostly, called Monsters, Incorporated. I had made it to the top at one point, before Sullivan joined the scarers. He took the top spot once he did and made me in the second top spot. We both were working to outrank the others in the numbers and break a scare record. I'm sure he's done that by now since I haven't been there."

Don was seeing what had made Randall sad about his earlier years and why he had had that small hardness to him.

"What did this Sullivan look like?" Don asked.

"You know the man I killed?"

"Yes."

"He might be around his size, but he was blue with purple polka dots on him. He had a short tail. Some spikes on his back. He was hairy. He had curved horns on his head. Big paws for hands and feet." Randall tried his best to describe him. "He was the one that everyone loved. He was such a suck up. Even the boss favored him."

"What was your boss's name?"

"Henry J. Waternoose."

"And how did he look?"

"From what Michelangelo has shown me from some of your Earth animal shows, like a spider and a crab really. He had about six legs, seven fingers, and five eyes. Just thinking about him still creeps me out to this day. He was not a very nice guy. To others, he had this father like role model look, but behind that, he was a harsh, mean guy. He would try to work you to the ground. He did it with me for two years trying to get that machine made." Randall said.

"I know I get carried away on my own projects at times, but no one forces me to do it but me. I just like to get them done before I rest." Don said. "And as much as I would love to have a job working for someone if I could do what I love to do with machines, I know I can't, but I wouldn't want to work for someone like that either."

"I thought Waternoose was a nice guy there when I first started there, but just because of my degree in engineering and no one cared about me, he also thought I was expendable at the time the machine was made. I'm sure he knew that I was going to get into trouble and he would have placed the blame on me with the authorities, if we were found out, and Wazowski and Sullivan were sure to reveal it." Randall said.

"You guys seem to have a habit of calling each other by the last name."

"Yeah."

"Were you called Boggs a lot?"

"At my job, I made sure people called me by my first name. But I was called Boggs by my fraternity and some others in college."

Don would have been curious to see Randall's world and see it's possibilities. Especially it's technology from what Randall described.

"Would you know how to get back to your world if it was the better thing to do if it would keep you safe from our world?"

"Yes. Finding a young child's room, getting in and waiting during the night for a monster to come in and scare it. Sneaking through the open door."

"That simple?"

"Yes."

"It's amazing you haven't tried it since you've been here."

"I just think that I would be put in jail if I went back. There's nothing there for me. No family, no friends, no job."

"But if they could see how much you've changed."

"I don't think I've changed that much. They'd still hate me. They would still find a reason to put me in jail or banish me again."

"But did they know where they were banishing you the first time?"

"I think they just selected some random door and wouldn't have cared if I was put into a frozen wasteland. They just wanted to get rid of me. They had no idea that I was almost killed from where they threw me into." Randall began to growl, but there was some sadness in his voice too.

Don sensed the emotion in his voice. He walked over to the lizard. Clearly he had feelings on this too.

Randall was looking away from the turtle with his eyes closed. Tears were welling up. He couldn't help it. Then he felt a hand on his left shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine."

"No, you're not. It's better to let the pain out, Randall, then to bottle it up." Don said.

Randall grimaced. The tears were threatening to fall.

"It's alright. Just let it go." Don said. Then he quickly pulled him into a hug.

Randall was a little surprised, but his chin now rested on Don's shell. He didn't resist. The tears started to fall. His arms began to grip Don too. No one had ever held him like this. It felt, good.

Don let Randall cry on him for as long as he needed, which was at least a half hour. He led him over to the cot in the workshop.

"Are you feeling better now?" Don asked.

Randall was drying the tears. "Yeah. Getting there. It's just no one has ever cared about how I felt about something. No one's ever held me like that."

"It's what true friends do when their friends are hurting. Giving them a shoulder to cry on. I can see these memories hurt you. I won't press the issue. Let's get past this. But it is part of letting go of the past too." Don said.

"It's not easy to forget it." Randall said.

"I know. But we need to move past it too. It's best not to live entirely in the past."

"I know, and you see why I don't like to talk about it."

The two of them went on to talking about other things to change the subject before they went to bed that night.

…

It had been weeks since Randall had moved into the apartment in April's basement. With about $100 given to him a week, it was now two months since then and April waited till Randall had money before she did ask him for rent. She was being generous for him to have enough before asking for it.

Randall had still wanted this to happen. He wanted to pay his own way in some ways.

Randall gave April $150. It was cheap compared to what she would ask for a regular tenant. She still wanted him to have money of his own. But it would be monthly now, for as long as he stayed with her.

…

The Foot was beginning to get determined to find the creature that had killed Hun.

They doubled their search party. After hurting the lead turtle too, the turtles were more likely to be hiding out. But they would still get what they wanted.

When Stockman looked at the video that was shot, he was more than anxious to study this strange creature or lizard. But it was like no lizard he had ever seen before. Maybe it was another mutant? But where had it come from? So many questions about this lizard that needed answers.


	21. Chapter 21

It was a couple of weeks since the last fight for Leo and Randall. Randall was at the lair when Don began to cut the stitches out of Leo's arm and leg.

Leo hadn't been kept down at all, he had just had to take it a little easier while he had stitches in. He had still done his katas and sparred with his brothers after a week. He was a fast healer.

Leo was glad to have the stitches out, and just two more scars added to his battle scarred body. Signs that he was a proud warrior and would go down as a warrior.

The lead turtle would gladly give his own life to save his family's, but he would always be grateful to others as well that would save his life too. Like Randall. Randall had saved his life that night. Someday, he might return the favor.

Leo was still willing to offer Randall more strategy tips for when they went out on patrols.

Now that he was well again, Leo had begun patrolling again with his family.

After what had happened, Randall only wanted to limit himself to patrolling one night a week. He wasn't so crazy for going out and fighting humans. He'd much rather avoid them, but he would be there for his friends when they needed him.

Randall was down in the lair with Mikey one night, while Leo and Raph patrolled the city. Raph had been anxious to get out of the lair, being the rebel of the group. Don had been working in his lab.

Leo and Raph were running over rooftops when they did run into some Foot ninjas. Foot Techs were among them.

The ninjas didn't take questions, and neither did the two turtles, they just fought. Even though the blue one had been out of action topside for awhile, he still hadn't lost his touch. The red and blue ones were the top fighters of the turtles.

And once again, sheer numbers were used to overpower the two turtles. But instead of killing them, both Raph and Leo were restrained. Then questions were asked.

"Where is your lizard friend?" A ninja asked.

"What lizard?" Raph said.

"The one that killed Hun!"

"We haven't seen it." Leo said.

"That's a big fat lie! Where is it?!"

"No, it's not! He was just there out of the blue." Leo lied again.

"We've seen that lizard before. We know he hides. Surely he's here tonight."

"No, he's not." Raph said.

"Boss, if it was here, surely we would be attacked by now."

"We're not getting anything out of them."

"Oh we will." The leader said.

Leo and Raph knew what they wanted and they weren't going to give them the satisfaction.

Then, all of a sudden, there were pricks in their necks, making both of them jolt at the pricks. And within minutes, they both got dizzy and stumbly. The ninjas let the turtles go down.

"Which one are we taking?"

"Since the blue one is the leader and he was with the lizard the night the lizard killed Hun, take the blue one. The Shredder wants him most of all anyway."

"And the red one?"

"Let him take the message to the lizard."

There was a note left with Raphael while they picked up Leonardo and took him back to the headquarters.

When Raph woke up later, he found the ransom note left in his belt.

 _"If you want to see the lead turtle alive again, you will give us the lizard that killed Hun. Or he dies. Midnight, down at the docks, two nights from tonight."_ The note read.

"I'll make sure to get Leo back." Raph didn't like this. The stupid Foot was ransoming Leo's life for Randall's.

Raph knew he would need help to get him back, but he knew to give them what they wanted. Randall would be a good distraction. And he could take the Foot down too. He had saved Leo doing it.

Raph went home and told his family about the run in and gave them the note. Even Randall read the note.

So it had come to this. "I'm not going down without a fight." Randall said.

"We'll be there to make sure they don't do anything stupid, but we are going to get Leo back." Mikey said.

"We know the Foot goons can't be trusted." Raph said. "We have to strike before then."

"Do we know where they are hiding him?" Randall asked.

"Probably at Foot headquarters right now. The Shredder has always wanted to take Leo out of the picture." Don said.

"I just hope he's alright." Mikey said.

"We do too." Splinter said. They would all end up going to save Leo's life.

…..

When Leonardo came to, he found he was lying on a cold, hard floor. He had a shackle on his neck and ankles. His hands were tied behind his back. He tried to get them loose, but to no avail. He had no defense against enemies like this.

He looked around himself. He saw he was in a big prison cage. But he was tied down, for what? He wondered where Raph was. He wondered where he was. He hoped his family would find him.

No matter how much he knew he would give his life to protect his family, he knew that he would always be glad to return to his family alive too. They meant the world to him.

"Where am I? Raph? Are you here?" Leo asked. All he got was silence. This place creeped him out.

Raph might have been unconscious, somewhere else or could have been being tortured. Leo really hoped he wasn't. And there was the chance he wasn't here and he had escaped.

Then there were some noises and some footsteps approached.

Leo wanted some answers. He also remembered the Foot wanted Randall.

He saw the Shredder and some ninjas behind him. He unlocked the cage door and walked inside.

"How the mighty have fallen." The Shredder said.

Leo glared at him. "What do you want, Shredder?" He demanded.

"I have seen a lizard among you and your friends. I demand to know what knowledge he has." Shredder said.

"He knows nothing."

"I'll be the judge of that when I meet him. And if he doesn't give me information, I'll be glad to have him destroyed."

Leo figured that. This maniac lived to destroy everything that didn't agree with him. And he knew Randall had knowledge of another world, but surely he wouldn't betray his former world? If only he could warn the others.

…

The guys didn't want to wait for the second day time to get Leo back. They went down to the docks to try to find him first. Splinter came too, as he could sniff out his son's scent the easiest. Randall was with them.

After searching through over six warehouses, Splinter soon did pick up Leo's scent. "He is in this warehouse." Splinter said.

"But how are we going to get in without being seen?" Don asked.

"Very carefully, my son."

"I can get in without being seen." Randall said.

"It might be easiest to send Randall in." Raph said. "Though I want to go in and kick Shredder's butt."

"We need to get Leo out before we start cracking heads, Raph." Don said.

"You can go in, Randall. Just be careful. The Foot clan may have sensors around that might even sense you."

"I'm sure I'll be fine." Randall said. Then he vanished and went to look for a way into the building. He took to climbing the walls first. He was trying to see if there were any weak windows he could sneak into.

He went around the surface of the building and found a smaller ledge roof where he got on it and walked around and looked inside. If it wasn't for his contacts, he wouldn't be able to see anything good. But in there, he did see what looked like a prison cage. There was a door that led to another room, but in that cage, he saw Leonardo.

Randall saw that Leo was tied down and restrained, but he didn't look hurt. But it was possible. He tested the window pressure. It didn't resist. That did it.

He looked around for something, but there was nothing on the roof to help him. So instead, he went back to the others and asked if he could borrow a weapon to break a window.

"They might hear you." Don said.

"No one is in the room."

"Alright." Don let him have his Bo staff to go break the window.

"You might need one of these to break the chains." Raph said, handing him a sai.

"Thanks."

"If you're not out in a half hour, we are coming in after you." Splinter said.

"Alright."

Randall climbed back up the wall, if a little differently holding the weapons. He broke the window with the Bo.

Leo heard glass breaking. He hoped it was his family.

Randall left the Bo outside. He still carried the sai. He went into the room, using the ceiling and walls as his cover. There was also a lot of boxes in the room too. He soon reached the other side of the room and Leo's cell.

"Leonardo." Randall said.

Leo heard his voice. "Randall?"

Randall appeared at the front. Using Raph's sai like a key, he got into the cell.

"Randall, you shouldn't be here alone. They have a ransom for you." Leo said.

"I know. I saw the note. Raphael brought it to the lair. But I was the only one who can sneak in unseen."

Randall used the sai to break open the cuffs on Leo's arms and legs. He was more careful on his neck.

"Are they here?"

"Yes. Let's go." Randall said.

The two of them tried to sneak out, but before they got far, some ninjas came into the room. "Where do you think you're going?"

"You're not keeping me here!" Leo yelled at the human.

"Come on!" Randall said.

Leo followed him. They both ran.

The ninja hit a button and the alarm blared. It alerted other ninjas.

The Shredder heard it too and he wasn't going to let Leonardo escape so easily this time. He went with them.

The others outside knew cover had been blown when the alarm sounded.

"We can't wait any longer." Raph said.

"Now we go in. We are getting them out." Splinter said.

They went up to the roof first where Randall had said he had seen Leo to see what they were up against. Don's bo was on the floor and he got it back.

There were ninjas rushing to the area. They dropped into the room to find their brother and Randall.

Leo had had to stop and fight hand to hand to let Randall escape, but the lizard was having none of it. He had stayed behind and he stayed invisible, but he was fighting too.

Then, out of nowhere, a net was thrown onto Leo. "Hey!" He went down and ninjas held him down.

The net had struck Randall's side, but didn't catch him. He got away.

"Did you really think you were getting away, Leonardo?" The Shredder now appeared.

Randall now saw what they meant about how the Shredder looked.

"Let me go, Shredder!" Leo demanded.

"You are too much a prize to let get away. I think I can do something about that." Shredder said.

Ninjas were well off to the side, making sure he couldn't get out of the net. They hoped their leader would do away with the turtle.

Randall wasn't going to allow this maniac to kill the turtle's leader. He growled and got into position. He jumped down from the ceiling and right onto the Shredder's back, knocking him down. Then he got in front of Leo. He hit the ninjas away with his tail invisibly.

The Shredder got up. "What's going on here?"

Leo was starting to get up. He knew it was Randall.

There was noise outside the room as Leo's family was fighting the Foot clan.

"You're still not getting away." Shredder said and now that he was up, he was getting closer to Leo, who was still struggling to get out of the net.

But then, there was a big weight thrown onto Shredder's front this time. There was some snarling and growling, and it knocked him down again, but this time, he didn't let it get away.

Using his left gauntlet, with the longest blades on them, Shredder sliced the blades down with all his might.

There was a big cry of pain and the weight rolled off the Shredder when they both went down. Then Shredder got up and looked behind himself.

To the ninjas' eyes, before them was a big purple lizard lying on the floor that had materialized in front of them. There were two very long gashes on his lower back to the side of his stomach from the right side.

Randall was trying hard to breathe and feeling pain in his body.

"So, you're the troublesome lizard that's given my ninjas so much trouble and killed Hun." Randall heard the deep voice behind him.

Randall looked behind him. The armored up leader of the Foot clan stood behind him.

"I've been wanting to meet you."

Randall tried to get up, but he just couldn't. His blood was running like crazy from the wounds created. He growled. "Stay away from me!"

"I think I'll avenge Hun instead and Stockman can have the rest." Shredder said.

Randall watched as the Shredder was about to step in and finish him, when a sai connected with the blades that came down. It totally surprised Randall. He thought he was going to be finished.

Leo had found the sai that had been in Randall's hand. "Leave him alone, Shredder!"

The Shredder continued to fight Leo and soon the other turtles and Splinter burst into the room, fighting the other ninjas and Splinter eventually taking over fighting the Shredder.

"Don! Get over here fast!" Leo called out. He was now able to get by Randall's side and he saw how bad the wounds were.

Leo took his belt off and began wrapping it around Randall's middle, despite Randall's groans of pain.

Don came over and he saw the damage that had been done. "What happened?"

"The Shredder wounded him while he was protecting me." Leo said.

Don began taking his belt off too. He did have some bandages on him. Leo's belt was containing the blood on his back. The bandages were put on his lower side and wrapped up with Don's belt.

"We need to get him home." Don said.

Soon, the Shredder and his ninjas were defeated or unconscious. The mutants had to get out of here and get Randall to safety.

Leo and Don carefully picked Randall up. They had the Battle Shell waiting outside.

As they left, the Shredder was at least glad to have finally seen the lizard he had heard so much about and that it wasn't invincible. He would get it back one of these days.


	22. Chapter 22

Randall was laid on the infirmary bed in the back of the truck before they all got out of there. Raph drove home.

"Randall, are you okay?" Mikey asked in concern.

"He was hurt by the Shredder, shell for brains. Of course he's not okay." Raph said.

The wounds were from the middle of his back down to even under the lower right arm. Don knew he was going to have to stitch the wounds up. They were deep too.

"Just try to steady your breathing, Randall. I know it hurts." Leo was trying to keep Randall awake. He was breathing hard.

Randall was lying on his left side. Now he really wanted to kill the Shredder too, but it would be awhile before he was able to do that.

Don took Randall's vitals and his pulse was a little weak due to some blood loss. It was a little paler shade of red, or pink.

"Randall, when you're well again, I should take some blood from you so that just in case something much worse ever happens, you can have your own blood stored to save your life." Don said.

"Yeah, sure." Randall muttered angrily. He was just mad at the enemy for doing this to him. But once again, he had saved Leo's life, and Leo had saved his this time as well.

When they pulled into the garage, Don and Leo were instantly picking Randall up in their arms to get him to the lair's infirmary. Given his weight and body length, it took two people to carry him. They took the elevator to the bottom.

Mike, Raph, and Splinter could see that Randall was hurt and he needed help. His blood was soaking through the bandages that were just to stem the bleeding.

They got him into the infirmary as fast as they could. The belts were taken off and some fresh bandages were put onto the wounds.

As much as this treatment was hurting him, Randall knew he had to let the turtles do this as they knew how.

Mikey called Leatherhead and that they had had trouble with the Shredder and that Randall had been hurt in the battle.

LH didn't hesitate to come over and help. April was also called over.

When all three doctor ones were together, Randall wondered what they were going to do. This scared him right now.

Leatherhead kept pressure on the wounds to try to stem bleeding. Don prepared stitches while April got some water and a cloth ready.

Don then prepared a syringe and needle. "Randall, you've lost a lot of blood. I'm going to have to do this with you awake. But I will numb the area up."

"Do it." Randall grumbled.

Don gave him a couple injections. The area went numb. Then the wounds were stitched closed.

Leatherhead saw how Donatello did stitches and he was good at it. He had done them more.

Randall didn't watch Don stitch the wounds up. But when he was done, he was glad it was over. April then came forward and cleaned the skin up of the old blood ever so gently.

Once the area was clean, new bandages were wrapped around Randall's middle. It was four in the morning, but everyone was glad they had Leo back. They had only waited one day before the trading time and had gotten Leo back before the second night and who knows how long before the Shredder would do damage to him.

After Randall was taken care of, the family came in to see how he was doing.

"I'd really like to thank you, Randall. You took a blow for me. It shows how much honor you really do have within you." Leo said.

"Welcome." Randall managed. His eyes were growing heavy.

Mikey was next. "You saved Leo twice now and he did save you from the Shredder."

"Hm." Randall mumbled.

"We should let him rest. We'll check back on you later." Splinter said. "We should all go to bed. It has been a long night. Get well, Randall."

Randall couldn't wait a second longer. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

April would stay and watch over him for now. She made sure to put a couple of blankets over him. She was glad that Randall was fitting in with the family, but would he choose to stay after he recovered?

…

The memory of the Shredder haunted Randall's dreams. He dreamed he had been captured and tortured. He knew he had made a deadly enemy of the Shredder and he would be happy to kill this enemy too, if he could.

April could see Randall was having a hard time relaxing in his sleep. It must have been something bad. It had been a few hours since they got home. She was tired herself, but she wouldn't sleep until one of the others took over.

He was moaning and groaning in his sleep. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. April went over to wake him up.

"Randall. Randall, wake up."

He moaned again. "No! No, please, no!"

"Randall, wake up!" She shook his shoulder.

Randall's eyes snapped open. He was panting hard. "Ah! Where am I?"

April saw the fear in his eyes. "You're in the turtles' lair, in the infirmary. The Shredder hurt you pretty bad a bit ago." She said.

Randall looked around himself. He wasn't tied down and he wasn't being tortured, but he did move the blankets and he saw the bandages on his middle. He felt the wounds throbbing down there.

"How long have I been out?" He asked.

"A few hours. You weren't sleeping well. Do you remember what the dream was about?" She asked.

"Some mad scientist was torturing me. He would have given anything to discover my secrets." Randall said.

"Can you describe him?"

"I have seen this guy before, but he had dark glasses, short hair, and an ego to match."

"From what you describe, that almost sounds like Agent Bishop." April said. "Something must be trying to warn you about him."

"I don't know about that. But I want nothing to do with the guy."

Randall knew he would avoid the man if he could in the future. Right now, he just needed to concentrate on getting the rest he needed to heal.

Don came in a few hours later to check on him. Randall had fallen back to sleep by then and it was a more peaceful sleep. But April told him about earlier.

"It could have been a premonition or something." April said. "Some of you have had those before."

"Usually just Master Splinter. But I wouldn't doubt that Leo's abilities would be far behind his." Don said. "Why don't you go get some rest now, April."

"I'm on it, Don. Thanks."

April went to the living room and laid down on the couch. She saw Randall's mattress off to the side of the wall, away from the televisions. She hoped Randall wouldn't become just a memory. He had come so far in the few months he had been with them. She got herself comfortable and went to sleep.

Don watched over Randall for the time being. When he woke up, he wanted to check on his wounds.

It was around noon when the other turtles got up for the day. Mikey fixed them all a late breakfast. April had even joined them.

Mikey took some eggs and sausage into Don.

"Thanks, Mikey." Don said.

"How's he doing?" Mike asked.

"He's still out of it, but his breathing is stable." Don said.

"He took quite the blow for Leo."

"And he is showing us that he knows what sacrifice is. He took that blow for our brother."

"And he now knows how deadly the Shredder can be." Mikey said.

"Yep. But he'll have to be more careful when he ever deals with him again." Don said.

Mikey left the infirmary to finish having his food. Don ate his food sitting by the bed.

Randall was beginning to wake up from the smell of food. Was that cooked eggs? He was currently on his left side and when he sensed someone eating food beside him, he tried to roll over.

But the instant he moved over and his weight came in contact with the wounds, he cried out. "OW!" He rolled back over, holding the injured area.

Don quickly put the dish down. He was surprised at this. He had see Randall begin to move over, but he hadn't expected that.

"Randall, it's alright. But you shouldn't lay on your right side right now." Don said.

Randall winced. "I found that out. I just smelled some of that food."

"I can get you some, but you can't move too fast. And I want to look at those wounds after you eat." Don said.

"Alright."

Don went out to go get him some food when he made sure he was okay.

Randall didn't want to remember what happened several hours ago.

"Is Randall awake now?" Leo asked when Don got to the kitchen.

"Yes. He smelled my food and he wants some. But he accidentally rolled onto his injured side." Don said. He got a plate and put some eggs and sausage on it. Then he went back to the infirmary.

Randall had pushed himself into a sitting up position and had pushed his pillows against the wall to support his back. The wounds were still throbbing, but he wasn't going to let it stop him from getting up.

Don came back into the room with his food. "Here you go. Some eggs and sausage that Mikey cooked for us." He handed the plate and fork to the lizard.

"Thanks." Randall said. He smelled it and it did smell good. His stomach growled at that.

He ate the food ever so slowly. He wanted to relish it.

After Randall was done, as he said he would, Don wanted to check on the wounds. Don helped Randall to roll off the cot on his left side and he was now standing. He undid the bandages.

Once the bandages were off, the extent of the damage was real. Randall did look down and he was disgusted by what he saw.

So many stitches ran down from in between his upper arms on his lower back to down to his stomach, a little below his second arms. The Shredder had slashed him good.

"I never should have let him get the blades on me." Randall said.

"It's not always easy when you are in close contact with the Shredder to avoid his blades unless you have a weapon in your hands." Don said. "But you are a fighter. Not many can survive a battle with the Shredder."

"How are you doing today?" Leo asked from the door.

They both looked over. Leo walked into the room and he saw Randall was already up again and he saw the wounds. He felt bad for Randall, but he was glad he had saved his life again.

"Thanks again for saving me, Randall. I don't know what my family would do without me." Leo said.

"No problem, but I don't know how well I'll go up against that guy again. But I know I hate him too." Randall growled.

"It's okay to hate him. He is nothing but a war crazed maniac." Leo said. "He'll destroy anyone who doesn't side with him."

"I think I found that out."

"How do your wounds feel?" Don asked.

"Throbbing. Burning. It wasn't easy to get up." Randall replied.

"It will hurt for awhile, but the stitches will help them heal faster. If you need painkillers, I can let you have some." Don said.

"It would be nice right about now."

"Okay."

Don got him some aspirin and some water.

Randall really didn't know how human pain killers would help him, but he took them anyway. He just wanted the pain to stop.

Once Don was sure Randall was going to be just fine, he re-bandaged Randall's wounds. They were real nasty to look at, but would always be reminders of what happened with the Shredder.

Now that he was up, Randall didn't want to stay in bed. He just wanted to be up. He went and hung out with Mikey, watching some TV. He would probably go home in a few days, to April's place, but he wouldn't be doing any box lifting. Anything that would touch his wounds were bound to hurt him.

But before she left, April said Randall could come back to her place if he wanted to, but he should just take the time off for a couple of weeks, to get the stitches out first. Bending over with those injuries would be hard for him anyway. His whole upper middle was covered in bandages. His lower arms still stuck out from them.

Randall almost couldn't help but wonder if his rivals saw him like this, and heard what he had done. Would they have changed their minds and let him back into their world? But for right now, he wouldn't dream of going back.

Don advised that Randall stay here in the lair for the first few days just to make sure none of the stitches got torn out. Not that Randall would try to take them out.

When things were cleared, Leatherhead also went back to his lair too. He was glad Randall was making good improvements in his recovery so far.

The family had a movie day that day just to celebrate being together as a family.

Casey came over the next day with April when he had heard what had happened. He did see the amount of bandages Randall was wearing. The lizard was becoming more of a warrior all the time.

Randall would have to take better chances in fighting enemies in the future. But that's why he wasn't going to be constantly going on patrol every night either. He would be glad to go out one or two nights a week, but not every night. He didn't want enemies to think he was that predictable.


	23. Chapter 23

Randall stayed down in the lair for a few more days, waiting for the worst of the pain to get past.

After four days of relaxation, and the pain going down, he felt he was ready to go back to April's. He had liked hanging out with his friends, but now, he was ready for some time on his own again. April would look after him if he needed anything.

Mikey drove Randall to April's place, then they went down to the basement, where they hung out and watched some movies. But after that, Randall really wanted some alone time.

"I wish you were still living in the lair." Mikey said.

"I know you do, but I've said it before that even though it is great to have you as my friend, I still do need my alone time. Some people get tired of me being around all the time. And at times, it's the same with me. We can hang out again another time, Mike." Randall said.

Mikey reluctantly went back home again.

Randall could finally relax in the bed that had become his down here in the basement. He fixed himself a meal, ate it and went to sleep for awhile.

April later checked in on him to see how he was doing. He was up and watching his TV again at this time. She just wanted to check on the wounds and change the bandages. Don had given her orders to make sure the wounds were looked after daily.

Randall hated looking at the wounds period, but knew it had to be done. April helped him take a cloth bath. He was still wary of taking a shower with the stitches.

While she was putting new bandages on him, he said, "I want to work again. I just feel lazy without working."

"If you think you can handle bending over and only lifting lightweight things." She said.

"I can do it." He said.

"Okay, rest up for today, and we'll see how you do tomorrow. But one slip up and you aren't working until the stitches come out." April warned him.

"Agreed." He reluctantly said.

He hated being treated like this, like he couldn't be allowed to do anything, just because of these injuries. They were looking better with each passing day, but he wished they would heal faster.

The next day, he opened some boxes and did lean over to take the items out of the boxes. He did feel some pull from the stitches, but the wounds didn't do too bad. April was watching him warily.

Randall tried not to let on that his wounds did throb from the bending over, but he was going to keep it up, if just gently. The darn things itched too, which was annoying as well.

The shift ended on a pretty good one. Randall just wanted to spend time to himself now, but April checked the wounds to be sure they were fine.

There was no blood and the wounds were scabbed over. It would still be another week before they were going to be deemed ready to come out though. Then April bound them up again.

…

A few days later, all the turtles came over for a sleepover and a movie night in April's apartment. Casey came over too. Mikey went downstairs to get Randall to join the fun.

This night, Master Splinter was glad to have his sons out of the lair. He wanted some time for himself too.

Randall followed Mikey upstairs. Mikey was glad that his friend was doing so well.

But in the bathroom, Don checked on the wounds once again. He was surprised at how fast they were healing.

"Us monsters heal pretty fast." Randall said. "I've been working in April's shop and they're not a big deal anymore. I just hate looking at them."

"They will be permanent scars though." Don said.

"I know, but I can deal with that. I just want the stitches out."

"A few more days. Just to make sure they are fully closed."

When Randall's middle was wrapped again, they both went out for some movie and popcorn fun.

"Aww! The popcorn's all gone." Mikey moaned half way through the movie.

"I can't imagine where it all went, Mikey." Raph said.

"I was hungry, but now I'm really hungry." Mikey said.

"You're always hungry." Randall said.

"What about getting some ice cream?" Don suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea." Casey said.

"I'll run to the store and get some." April said. "Stay here."

April went to an all night open store and bought a big bucket of ice cream. And some smaller boxes of it for choices. She didn't want the guys to get into trouble tonight out on the streets.

It was a really warm night out yet, so ice cream sounded like a good idea.

The guys were all anxious to get their taste buds on some nice, cold ice cream when she got back.

Mikey got out seven bowls out of the cupboard while April got a scooper spoon out of the drawer in the kitchen while the rest of them opened up the ice cream bucket and boxes.

Chocolate, vanilla, banana split, strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate, just some examples of what they all mixed up. And even some with almonds.

Randall just chose a basic chocolate. He did love sweets himself.

Once all the guys were satisfied in the ice cream choices, the boxes and bucket were put in the freezer for later. They popped in another movie to enjoy while eating the frozen treats.

As he was watching the movie and enjoying his ice cream, Randall looked over the others in the room with him. These were fun times he had never had as a kid. He had never had a normal childhood. He knew that being kids did involve sleepovers and just having fun like this. And after all the hardship he had faced from rough other beings in his world and in this world, it was like he was gaining back a part of his childhood from his friends.

He could actually call these guys his friends compared to anyone else back in his world. He was paid attention to, he had a job, he had beings here who would hang out with him and teach him things of this world. He knew by now that humans weren't toxic by the touch, but he did know that other ones outside of April and Casey were dangerous.

They all enjoyed this movie, another western one. Then April declared it was time for bed. It was late.

April dragged out an air mattress for Casey to sleep on. She would sleep in her own room. The guys would all sleep out in the living room, though Randall had the option of the basement. This time, he chose to stay up here with his friends.

He laid down closer to the TV. Mikey moved closer to him.

"Just make sure you give me enough space." Randall said.

"Of course, bro."

Randall flinched at that. "Bro?"

"After all this time, you've become like another brother."

"It's true, Randall." Leo said.

"Bros look out for one another." Raph said.

"Thanks. That means a lot." Randall said. For once, he felt like a part of a real family.

They all settled down to sleep for the night. It was the weekend, so there was no work tomorrow. But the next few days also spelled some good news for Randall too, as he would finally get his stitches out. During the healing process, they had also itched a lot too.

Four days later, Don took a look at and removed the stitches.

Randall was glad to have the horrid stitches out at last after two weeks of recovery. They had left their mark though. The slashes from the Shredder would always remain. And Randall had a big hatred for him too. He would kill him too if he got the chance.

….

The days were getting shorter as fall was coming on. Randall wondered if he was going to need to head south again.

"Randall, if you don't want to, you don't have to leave the house during the winter if the cold air will bother you. I keep it plenty warm in here in the wintertime, and there are some times when the guys do go to the farmhouse during the winter because it does get quite cold in the sewers." April said.

"Do the turtles still patrol in the winter?" Randall asked.

"Yes. They eat and warm up with their heat lamps and just keep on the move. That usually keeps them warm for awhile. They don't stay out nearly as much in the winter. But they also will wear clothes as well. It's easier for when they want to go some places. Winter's the easiest time for them to wear clothes."

"Even if I do wear clothes, there's no way I would fit in with a gang of humans with my body anatomy."

"There is a holiday coming up where you could walk out with the humans. The turtles do it. It's called Halloween. Casey and I dress up and go to parties that night. The turtles go out and get candy or walk the streets. Or watch scary movies. And they like to decorate pumpkins." April said. "Parents take their kids trick or treating, which is when the kids dress up like their favorite superheroes or creatures and they go out and get candy from people's houses."

"By creatures, you mean to say monsters, right?"

"Yeah. No offense."

"I'm not exactly a kid."

"It doesn't matter. People of all ages celebrate Halloween. There are parties and dances that go on that night for adults."

"I'm not much for parties. And with my set of legs, I probably wouldn't dance too well. And I don't want to be around humans at such a big place with too many of them." Randall said.

"You don't have to. We can see what the guys will do at that time. We also have Thanksgiving in November, and then there's Christmas in December."

"Us monsters didn't have Thanksgiving, given we'd never heard of it, and we did celebrate Christmas, even if I never fully grasped the understanding of it."

April went on to explain the meaning of both the end of the year holidays.

"Oh." Randall said when she had finished.

"Randall, I know you said you don't have a family back in your world, but do you consider us a family?" April asked.

"You guys are definitely a family. One that I wished I could have had as a kid. But it is nice to have one now. This is something that I have always wanted, to feel wanted and respected." Randall said.

"Everyone deserves a family. To feel loved and supported." She said.

"Yeah."

Randall had felt the support and respect, and care from this family. He began to wonder if they did love having him around? He knew Mikey did. And the others had been grateful to him for saving them.

It had been a few months since Randall had moved into the apartment with April and in all this time, their relationship was completely just as friends and a business partnership. And since cold weather was going to be here soon, he was really happy to be living in a real house again. Or an apartment. Better than the outdoors.

….

One day, while April was just peacefully working in the workshop, there were a couple men that came in, looking suspicious.

Randall was upstairs, just cleaning her apartment. He did that sometimes too for extra money. He had just finished vacuuming.

April watched the men carefully. "Is there anything I can help you gentlemen with today?" She asked them.

"Yeah, hands up, lady!" The dark haired one pulled a handgun on her.

She raised her hands.

"Give us all your money!" The blonde one ordered.

"Uh, sure."

Randall heard the commotion downstairs. He had seen some of these hold ups on TV when he watched them with Mikey. He went over to the staircase to see what was going on.

"Are you sure there's nothing else you want?" April asked, scared.

"No, we just want your money, or we may hurt you if you don't, girly." The blonde one said.

April was putting money from the cash register in a bag.

Randall growled and vanished. He knew April had fighting skills, but right now, she had guns aimed in her face.

He snuck down the stairs. He growled and made sure the men could hear him.

The men turned around and saw nothing. April knew it was Randall. "What was that?" One of them asked.

Then the blonde one felt his feet get tripped up from under him. He was holding a gun and the gun fired as he went down. It fired into the ceiling and would need to be patched up.

April then went and grabbed the wrist of the other man and threw him over her head. He landed a few inches away. He had dropped his gun out of surprise.

Then April picked up a gun and aimed it on them.

The one that Randall had gone after opened his eyes and he saw the woman with a gun aimed at her.

"You, over here with him, now!" April ordered.

The dark haired one joined his friend.

"Randall, hold them there." April said. She went to go call the police.

The men didn't know who she was talking to, but then a purple lizard appeared. He was on all eights.

Randall growled at the men, acting like an animal in this instance. The men were definitely afraid of him. They cornered themselves.

"Nice lizard, we need to go." The dark haired one said. They tried to sneak past him.

Randall snapped at them both with his teeth. They both stayed huddled in the corner.

Before long, sirens were heard. Then April took over again. Randall knew he couldn't be seen. He went back upstairs, but vanished anyway for good measure.

The police came and arrested the two men. And one of the men said April had a pet lizard.

"The lizard was vicious, man!" The blonde one said.

"Do you have a pet lizard, ma'am?"

"No. He's just making it up." April said.

"Alright. Stay safe, Ms. O'Neil." The officer said.

"Thank you." She said and saw the two officers off.

Randall reappeared after that. He had heard everything. She hadn't given him away.

"If anyone else had seen you, they would ask if I had a permit to have you. Some exotic pets are allowed, but otherwise, they would be taken to the city zoo." April said.

"I don't want to be caged ever." Randall said.

"And I wouldn't give you away. I have kept the turtles' secret for a long time. And thanks for your help, Randall."

"No problem."

April definitely saw Randall's worth too. He had just helped save her life and her money from burglars. He was well worth having around.

They later told the tale to the guys later than evening.

"Lucky he was here with you." Leo said.

"Yeah. He's a great business partner and friend." April said.

Randall smiled. He loved this attention. He wasn't trying to make a habit of saving everyone, but he did like wanting attention like this, good attention, and it wasn't like he was getting it from a large crowd. It was just a simple small family.

Later in the week, when he visited the turtles' lair, he had a talk with Leo.

"How often do you guys decide to go out in the cold winter weather?" Randall asked.

"We go out when we feel like it, or when there's been stuff going on. We still have to make sure that bad guys don't get away with their evil business. They are especially active around Christmas time. They try to steal items that are meant to be gifts to others."

"That's all great for you guys, but I just can't stand the cold. I have to limit my time outside. I get sick easily from it."

"That's okay. You don't have to go outside if you don't want to. And at times, we do go to the farmhouse when it gets too cold down here." Leo said.

"I probably would go again, as long as I don't go camping in the winter."

"We don't camp in the winter time, except in the barn maybe."

"No thanks. I just can't be outside much." Randall said. "Or I could go back down south."

"You don't have to do that. Just stay here. You have April's place to stay in. And you can come to the farmhouse when she decides to bring you or you can come up with us. Just call us and tell us what you want to do when the time comes." Leo said.

"Sure."

At least now Randall had a piece of mind that it wouldn't be forced on him to go. He definitely didn't want to go camping again too soon.

 **It was close to Halloween when I wrote this section. The Halloween part was fun to write when I got to it. Stay tuned for more soon!**


	24. Chapter 24

As the month of October came on, Randall saw on TV a lot more how humans were reacting to this Halloween thing. Sometimes he went out with Mikey and he told him how fun Halloween was. And how Master Splinter used to take him and his brothers out when they were younger.

Even Raph had a tale to tell. "Mikey would eat all his candy the next day and then get sick." He laughed.

"We would get enough candy to last for months." Don said.

"Candy's not my favorite food, but I will eat it occasionally." Leo said.

"So, what do you plan to do this Halloween?" Randall asked.

"Design some pumpkins at April's and then go get some candy." Mikey said.

"Just wander the streets too. It's just nice to be able to walk about and it doesn't matter how we look on this one holiday." Raph said.

"Even you'll be able to walk around and be yourself." Don said. "Unless you want to wear something extra to make it look like you're not just a lizard."

"I can make something extra if you want me to." Mikey said. "Or I can get something."

"I might be better off that way, or I'm not going anywhere. It's more risky for me, as I don't walk on two legs like you guys do. You could be more convinced for humans in costumes. Me, not so much." Randall said.

"Alright. I'll get something for ya." Mikey said. "Just leave it to me."

"As long as it's not something silly looking."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Halloween's the only day of the year when we get to walk the street as we are and don't always have to stick to the rooftops, but we'll still keep our gear for that should we need it." Leo said.

"Hm, but I don't need it."

"Whoever your parents were, they sure gave you great gifts of those fingers." Don said. "That you don't have to have climbing gear like we do."

"Yeah, and they've saved my tail more times than I can count."

The more October progressed, the more there was candy, pumpkins, and stuff that looked scary like was being put up all over the city in people's stores and homes.

Randall found that he was liking this holiday. The scarier the better.

A few days before Halloween, Mikey came down to his apartment at April's and had a box for Randall.

"I hope you like it." Mikey said.

Randall put the box down on the bed and opened it. No one had ever given him a gift like this. He saw something black was lying in the box.

With his top arms, he picked it out and it looked like a coat. A black coat. It had string on the front of it and it was a long coat.

"What's this? I get it's a costume, but what is it?"

"It's a vampire cloak." Mikey said. "Here. I'll show you how to put it on."

Randall let the turtle put the cloak around him and tied it on his neck. It went down most of his back. His tail still stuck out, but it covered most of his back.

"You can also wrap it around yourself if you want to. That's how vampires play sneaky." Mikey said.

"You mean like this?" Randall wrapped it around himself and gave a mischievous grin.

"Yeah, like that. You make an awesome vampire lizard!"

"Thanks."

"So is this costume okay?"

"It's great, thanks."

"A few more days and you can wear it out in public. We'll be by to decorate pumpkins first and then we'll go out shortly after that." Mikey said.

"Okay. I look forward to it." Randall said.

Mikey then sat about down there with him to watch some TV and have a snack with him like the best buds they were.

…..

Halloween was finally here. Tonight was the night for dress up.

The turtles all went over to April's house for pumpkin decorating. They knew that Randall was there waiting for them, and April would be dressing up to go to a party with Casey.

Now that his sons were well grown up, Splinter wouldn't mind some silence in the lair to meditate for awhile. He was glad he didn't have to take them out anymore. He just felt too old for it. He hoped they had a good time and especially Randall to be able to walk among the humans for once.

When they got to April's, they got their choice of pumpkin and all went to sit in the living room to decorate it. Randall wasn't upstairs yet.

April was dressed up as a biker girl. Then Casey came to her door and they left together. He was a biker dude. But before leaving, April went down to the basement and told Randall that the turtles were there.

"Alright."

"There's an extra pumpkin for you to decorate too." She said.

"Thanks."

Then she left.

Randall wanted to get his cloak on first. He just wanted to be wearing it.

He put it on and snuck upstairs. He made sure the turtles couldn't hear him. He snuck up the spiral staircase. His main body vanished and he poked his head up. He saw the turtles were just minding their own business.

He grinned mischievously and then he jumped up and gave his best impression of a roar.

"AAH!" The turtles screamed in surprise.

Randall laughed.

"Did you have to do that?" Don asked, holding his chest.

"Yes. It was too good to pass up." Randall replied with a grin.

They all could see he had on a black cloak.

"So what are you supposed to be?" Leo asked.

"A vampire lizard." Randall said. "Mike got it for me."

"Looks good on ya." Raph said. "It suits ya."

"Vampires know how to be sneaky." Mikey said.

They all went back to making their pumpkins look what they wanted them to.

Randall picked his up off the table. "What do I do with this thing?"

"You take a knife or one of our weapons and you can make a face on it, however you want it to look." Don said.

"Here, Randall, you can use my knife. I'm done with it." Mikey said.

"What does yours look like?"

Mikey showed him.

"I plan to make mine look scary."

"That's fine."

Randall got the knife and went over to cut his up.

"Don't forget to cut the top off and take out the seeds and guts in it." Raph said.

"That's why we cut the tops of them off." Don said.

Randall looked at their pumpkins, and the tops of the stems were cut around.

Randall cut around the top stem and indeed, there was a gooey mess inside to deal with.

"Here's some newspaper to put it on." Leo said, putting some down. "These are old newspapers. April doesn't want a mess in here."

"Thanks." He knew how April was conscious about messes.

Randall got to work cleaning out the mess. Once that was done, he then did make a scary looking monster face on his pumpkin. One with sharp teeth and scary eyes.

The turtles knew that Randall was into that stuff.

Afterward, they put them in the windows and they went outside to go walking around the streets. Randall was nervous about this, but no one was freaking out at him, and he stayed close to his friends.

"Wow, those are impressive costumes." A kid said.

"Thanks." Mikey said.

The kid had a Silver Sentry costume on, and his companion had a Spiderman costume on.

"See, you gotta love this holiday." Mikey said.

Randall even ended up playing his vampire trick on some kids too, and they did find it cool. And there were some that he did scare, particularly some young ones. Their parents weren't so pleased with that though.

"Sorry, our friend is new here and doesn't know Halloween in the big city yet." Leo said. "He's just having fun. He's not trying to hurt anyone."

They moved away from them.

"I still like to scare some kids."

"Yeah, but it's not like before. Just don't draw too much attention to yourself, Randall." Leo said.

"I don't see you doing anything."

"It's just not my favorite holiday, though I don't mind walking around the streets with my brothers." Leo said.

Later, they got some caramel apples. It was just Mikey and Raph that had them. Randall wasn't much of a fruit eater. And they got some candy from some people. The turtles were just wanting to show Randall the time of his life.

Randall was so glad these guys weren't little kids. And he was an adult who was acting very much like a little kid at times tonight. He was having fun showing off and scaring others.

They were still on the lookout for any trouble out here tonight, but there wasn't much of anything, just people out in costumes, trick or treating or going to parties. There was even a party close to Times Square and there were prizes there for best costumes. But the turtles knew better than to go there.

They were out for several hours and had a lot of fun. They had wanted to make the most of it since it was the only night of the year they could do it so easily.

But they soon headed back to April's with candy and some tiredness. It had been a fun night and hated to see it end. April and Casey were out pretty late too.

The turtles and Randall crashed at April's tonight. Randall went down to his room and got out of the cloak. Then he went back upstairs and they watched scary movies until they all passed out.

…..

The next day, the turtles and Randall had awoken in April's living room. April came out of her room and they all had breakfast together before the turtles headed home.

April had the shop closed today, as because she was out late last night and the guys had been up late too. It was just for extra rest. Because it wasn't long before even Randall wanted to go to the basement for some more sleep.

April too cashed in on a little sleep too and later went to the store that day to restock her home supplies for herself and her friends, and Randall.

Randall wished there could have been more days and nights like that, but sadly, there wasn't.

 **I had a lot of fun with this chapter. I figure Randall would especially love this holiday since he gets to be scary naturally.**


	25. Chapter 25

A couple of weeks later, there were some men in black scouring the rooftops for the turtles. It was some of Bishop's men again. They were looking for the turtles.

Bishop was still mad at the turtles for messing up his plans with his Slayer. Now he wanted some payback. He had said on his way out the last time, that they would one day pay for what they had done.

Tonight, three commandoes were running over rooftops and using night vision binoculars to try to find the turtles. It was still a warm enough evening for reptiles to be active out.

Soon enough, this group of commandoes did find the turtles, two of them anyway, and something extra: a lizard with them.

The turtles that were out were Don and Mikey. Leo, Raph, and Casey were out too, but in another part of town.

The commandoes reported back to Bishop by radio.

"Agent Bishop, we have located two of the turtles, but we have also seen something new with them." One of them said.

Bishop was online with them. "What do you have for me?"

"It's some kind of lizard."

This information got Bishop's attention. "Does it look like a crocodile?" He assumed it was Leatherhead.

"No. This is not the crocodile at all. It's something new."

"Call in back up and get the turtles and this lizard then. I must have them." Bishop ordered. He knew the turtles could be tough fighters, so the humans needed extra backup.

The men proceeded to call for backup and many men drove to their location. A helicopter was even called in.

Don, Mikey and Randall were having fun with each other when all of a sudden, a helicopter came out of nowhere and men in black came and surrounded them.

"Freeze! Or we will open fire!"

The men knew Bishop wanted them alive.

"Where did they come from?" Mikey asked.

"I don't know, but we have to get out of here." Don said.

Randall had an instant fear reaction and vanished.

The men were shocked.

"Get the turtles!"

Don and Mikey fought back with what they had. And for what the humans couldn't see, then they were attacked by something they couldn't see. The men were tripped up or hit in the face, or their guns were hit into their faces. Randall had become quite good at this.

But then, darts were hit into Don's right arm, and Mikey's left leg. It made them stop fighting. They were getting dizzy.

Men then grabbed Don and Mikey, making them drop their weapons. Mikey's phone also came out of his belt.

"If you're still here, Lizard, if you want your friends to live, you'll come out of hiding right now!"

Randall froze. He had never been stuck in this dilemma before, because he had just always looked out for himself. But now, he did think of the turtles as his family. He still stayed invisible though.

He bared his teeth silently and went to work. He snuck up on the men and bit their legs and arms. It made them let go of his friends when they cried out in pain.

The copter flying overhead had landed a few rooftops over to have given the help. So it was down.

When the men had let go of his friends, then he proceeded to jump on them, tail swat them in the face and trip them up. And this had been five men.

When all the humans were down and unconscious, Randall unblended and went over to check on Mike and Don. He gently shook them, but they were unconscious. He took out Don's shell cell and hit the distress button.

Across town, Leo, Raph, and Casey were responding.

"Come on, guys, wake up." Randall said. His friends weren't dead, but they just weren't waking up.

But then, one commando came to just enough with a gun and he fired it. It didn't give off a bang because it was a dart gun.

Randall was pierced in the back, near his spine. He cried out in pain and put a hand to the area, feeling something and pulled it out. It was a dart!

Then he felt his vision getting blurry. He had to stay awake. Then he saw in his vision a black form coming toward him.

Randall growled at him.

The man could see the lizard was on the verge of unconsciousness, but he was fighting it.

"This is for attacking me." The man said.

Randall's vision was so blurry that he just didn't see it coming fast enough and he was hit in the head with a gun. It instantly knocked him down, unconscious.

The man could now see the lizard in better details. It was too dark out to see all the details, but he could see all eight limbs and the fronds on its head.

When the other men came to, the bite marks were saw to, and they picked up Don, Mikey, and Randall. They were all put on gurney tables and their limbs were all tied down. Then the copter was flown over and it took them away.

Leo, Raph, and Casey soon arrived at the spot. There was a shell cell on the ground. It was Mikey's phone. That meant that Don still had his. They could still track them down.

"Who do you think took them?" Casey asked.

"It could have been the Foot." Raph said.

"Or worse, Bishop." Leo said.

They dreaded to think what would happen if that maniac got his hands on their brothers and friend.

Master Splinter was called and that Don, Mikey, and Randall had been captured by someone. They were coming back for the Battle Shell.

"I will be waiting for you."

April was also called on for help. They would need all the help they could get to recover the three missing ones.

…

Bishop was already familiar with the turtles' genetic makeup, but this lizard, he had never seen before. He had seen many types of animals in this world, but no lizard like this one before. Was it a mutant too? It sure looked like one.

Purple and blue skin and scales, antenna on the head, eight legs, at least they assumed eight legs, and an ability to disappear, that the men had told him of. And how the toes on the feet had gecko/tree frog like suctions on them.

And from bite marks seen on his men's arms and legs, Bishop examined Randall's mouth. He saw the sharp teeth in there. Indeed, the teeth marks had come from him. He also saw the forked tongue, like a snake's. This was one remarkable lizard.

Bishop wanted to keep this lizard alive for as long as possible.

While the lizard was out, he wanted an MRI done on the body. He wanted it done this way before any dissection.

Randall's body was put through a MRI and the organs were found to not be too different from an Earth lizard's internal organs really. Though there were the extra limbs. And he did see the sex organs too. It was a male.

Bishop wanted to see how the lizard acted when awake before he resorted to anything drastic. The drug should be wearing off soon. For now, he wanted the two turtles put in cells to study and do with as he pleased later. Right now, he wanted to study the lizard.

…

Randall soon moaned. "Hm. Where am I?" He tried to rub his head, but couldn't.

Bishop was standing in the shadows, watching. So this lizard could talk too. Fascinating.

When his vision focused more, Randall looked down at his arms and saw they were tied down with leather straps. He raised his head and saw his whole body was tied down. Straps were even over the middle of his body. His tail was tied down too.

His heart began to pound harder. This wasn't good. This was the last place Randall had ever wanted to find himself in. He also looked around for the turtles, which he didn't see. He knew he had to get out of here. He began to squirm desperately in the straps.

"Well, well, well. It's nice to see you are awake at last." A male voice was heard.

Randall froze. A man in dark clothes stepped out from the shadows.

"I see you are scared, Lizard, and want to know what's going on. Allow me to introduce myself. And I know you can talk, so don't try to stay quiet."

"Fine! I know who you are. You're Bishop!" Randall spat.

"The turtles must have told you about me."

"Yes. Let me go, you psycho!" Randall yelled.

"And just what is your name before I get to anything?" Bishop asked.

"Why should I tell you anything?"

"I can hurt your turtle friends if you don't talk."

"I'll never tell you anything!"

"What's wrong with just telling your name? Then I'll find out more if you don't talk."

"It's Randall to you!" Randall snapped at him. He didn't want to be called Gator or Lizard Boy.

"Alright, Randall. What are you anyway? You are one fascinating specimen. My commandoes have told me you have the ability to disappear." Bishop said.

Randall squirmed. He growled. "I'm not talking!"

"We can do this one of two ways, Randall. You tell me what I want to know, or I can take what I want." Bishop picked up a scalpel.

Randall struggled desperately. "Let me go!"

"As I look at your body, I see lots of scars here on your front side."

"Leave me alone!"

"And what are those on your head? You pinpoint feelings with those of what's around you? Are you an alien?"

"Shut up! No! I'm not an alien!"

"Are you a mutant like the turtles? I'm going to find out." Bishop said, then he turned on a dissection machine. But he didn't turn on the tools, just a scanner.

Randall saw the red light move up from his tail up to his head. What was this thing?

As Bishop looked at the scanner, he saw Randall didn't have the same genetic makeup as the turtles. He was definitely something different.

"Your genetic makeup is not like the turtles'. You are something different. You must be a different kind of mutant or really are an alien." Bishop said.

This guy was really annoying Randall. "I'm not telling you anything!"

"You better, Lizard, or I'll order one of your friends to be dissected. So you better talk."

Randall growled and bared his teeth.

"Or better, I can cut into your body to find out certain things."

Randall still gave Bishop a hard glare. He had his contacts in, so he could see this human perfectly clear.

"I see an unusual lizard creature that has gecko and tree frog like feet. A snake like body. And from hearing of the ability to disappear, it's almost like a chameleon quality. And I've seen your tongue too. Like a snake's. But there's no reptile on this planet that has antenna on their heads. What are they for, Randall?" Bishop demanded. "And you must have some use for those extra limbs, or I can see to it that they are amputated."

Randall's eyes widened. "NO! I need them all!" The turtles had said this guy was frightening if he captured you. And he knew he hated him already. "Let me go!"

"Hmm. Let me see if I can find out the thing that makes your ability to blend with your environment." Bishop said.

Randall gulped. It meant he might cut into his brain! "NO!"

Bishop got the scalpel ready.

…

Don and Mikey were both awake now and in separate cells. They were chained to the walls. But there were vents in the walls to where they could talk to each other.

"Where are we, Don?" Mikey asked.

"I don't know, Mikey. Somewhere in Bishop's hideaway. I just hope we're still in New York." Don said. His phone was gone. It must have been taken away.

"Where's Randall?"

"We can only hope he got away. But they could have gotten him too."

"I hope he's alright and the guys are on their way." Mikey said.

"I hope so too, Mikey. Are you alright, I mean, you don't have wounds of any kind?" Don asked.

"Nope. You?"

"Not at the moment. But we don't know what Bishop wants with us. But I'm sure he wants plenty to do with Randall if he has him."

Mikey didn't want to think about what Bishop could be doing to his friend. After what the Shredder had done to him, Bishop could be doing worse to him right now!


	26. Chapter 26

Leo, Raph, Casey, April, and Splinter were on their way to Queens. That was where the signal of Don's phone was coming from.

"If that psycho hurts our brothers, I'm gonna ram my fist so far down Bishop's throat!" Raph said angrily.

The others couldn't blame him for saying that.

"We don't know if it is Bishop who took them. But we will find out, Raphael." Splinter said.

"I know it was him. I can feel it."

"We are always making new enemies. The Foot would probably have them back at Foot Headquarters." Leo said.

"You weren't there when they took you last time." Raph said.

"True, but we will find them nevertheless." Leo said.

They were all worried what condition they would find the trio in. If Randall had not been captured too, more than likely, he would be on his way back to April's. Or he could have tagged along invisibly. They would find out.

…..

Randall screamed as a piece of his skin was cut off. It had been cut off the left side in between his arms. Blood flowed from the wound.

An assistant stepped in to stem the bleeding. He just put some guaze over it and taped it down. Blood began to soak through it.

Randall then snapped his jaws at the human. The human backed away. "Fine! Be that way!"

Bishop had left for the moment to go analyze the skin sample he had taken. The assistant left too after Randall's snap at him.

Randall had to get out of here. He squirmed again. The pain in his side wasn't enough to get him to stop. He could make Bishop think he escaped when he came back in. But he figured that he wasn't going to learn anything just from cutting a small piece of skin off.

He made himself disappear completely, but pushed down and he got his bandage under the strap to make it look like he wasn't there. This was the best he could do.

He steadied his breathing to really slow and holding it at times. He had to concentrate on making it work.

When Bishop came back into the room, he saw the table was empty. "Where's the lizard?!" He demanded.

Randall heard him and only minimally opened his eyes. But closed them again.

"Where is he?!" Bishop yelled again.

Men began checking the cameras. One of them rewound the video. Then he saw it.

"He's still there, Agent Bishop. He's camouflaged himself into the table." He said.

"Oh, really?"

Bishop looked at the table and didn't see a thing. But the straps were still together.

"My man says you're still here, Lizard. You might as well show yourself." Bishop ordered. But nothing happened.

Bishop walked over and got a tazer. "If you don't show yourself right now, I'll be forced to use this." He fired it up.

Randall could hear an electrical sound. He opened his eyes and saw it.

The tazer was getting closer all the time. "NO!" Randall cried out and he was instantly unblended.

"Good boy. Such an amazing ability. I saw you definitely have special cells like those of a chameleon's to have the ability to blend. Who created you?"

"No one!"

"Where did you come from?"

"Nowhere!"

"If you don't tell me, I'll still use it."

"I'm not telling you anything!" Randall yelled.

"Wrong answer!" Bishop growled and he put the tazer to Randall's skin on his stomach.

Randall screamed as the electricity went through his body and burned his skin.

The pain seemed to go on forever. But it was for only less than a minute.

Randall was panting hard when it stopped. "Tell me, Lizard!"

"Go to hell!"

"You're asking for it, Randall. I'm losing my patience with you." Bishop said.

"I'll never tell you anything!"

"Maybe I'll cut one of those antennas off and see what they do."

Randall growled at him.

Bishop came near him and he stayed clear of Randall's face.

Randall flattened his fronds. But Bishop grabbed one hard.

Randall screamed bloody murder. "NOOO!" He jerked his head about, trying to get release.

At one moment, Randall jerked his head hard enough and Bishop let go. Then Randall saw his chance. The arm was within reach and he bit down hard into Bishop's arm.

Bishop cried out in pain, but the bite force kept on clamping down. But with his other arm, with the strength it had in it, he then grabbed Randall's throat.

When he couldn't breathe anymore, he had to let go of Bishop's arm.

"You ever do that again, I'll see that you do die." Bishop growled in Randall's face.

Randall tried to squirm free, but the grip was too strong.

"You hear me?"

Randall stopped moving when his lungs were burning for air. His eyes were shut. He nodded. Then he felt the pressure release and he let out a big breath of air. He was panting hard. His lungs still burned.

This man was scary for such a human.

"I would call you what I called a crocodile called Leatherhead so long ago, a monster. That's what you are." Bishop said.

A shiver went down Randall's spine. He had nailed it! He was a monster. But Leatherhead was native to this world. Randall wasn't.

But Bishop was proving to be the real monster here, not him, and not Leatherhead.

"Yeah, what kind of a monster are you referring to?"

"A freak of nature that would harm humans if he gets the chance. You will remain as government property."

 _'Like hell I will!'_ Randall thought to himself. He would get away the first chance he got.

"Maybe up next, I should see what kind of food you've been eating?" Bishop said next.

Randall's eyes lit up. "NO!" He squirmed some more, knowing what it meant he was going to do. He saw the man pick up the scalpel again.

….

The rescue party finally arrived at the location. It looked like an ordinary building. Splinter sniffed around. He couldn't find anything.

"We might have to go underground again." Splinter said.

They all went into the sewers to try to get a vantage point from there, with Splinter leading the way, sniffing them out. He could sense they were nearby.

…..

Don and Mikey both tried to escape from the shackles on their wrists, but they weren't budging.

"I really don't want to find out what Bishop wants with us." Mikey said.

"I don't either." Don said.

They could only hope they would be rescued soon. Little did they know it had just arrived.

 **I had to shorten this part or it would be too long. Plus cliffhangers can be fun sometimes.**


	27. Chapter 27

The rescue party had found a way into some huge sized sewer lines and had gotten inside. Now they were finding their way through laser lines for security. They all were staying quiet.

This place had up to the top security and it even involved pummeling some commando guards. And it wasn't hard to do.

They soon arrived to the spot where the phone was from the tracker. They beat the guards down and they all went in, not finding who they wanted to find, but they found Don's phone and the weapons.

They then went in search of them.

The commandoes were no match for the angry search and rescue team. They couldn't even send out an alarm.

Splinter searched out his sons. He found Mikey first. Leo sliced off the lock and Raph kicked the door in.

"Leo! Raph! Father! April! Casey!" Mike said excitedly.

"Shh!" Splinter said.

"Guys?" Don said from the other room, the one on the right.

"Don, we'll be right in." Leo said.

Leo sliced the shackles open on Mikey's wrists and he was free.

"Here's your nunchucks, Mikey." Casey said.

"Thank you, Santa." Mike said.

Then they broke into Don's room and did the same, and got his bo back to him.

"We have to find Randall." Mikey said, "Or did he come home to you?"

"He never came back." April said.

"I can sense he is here too." Splinter said.

"Great. Now we have to find him too." Raph groaned.

"Hey, he has saved us many times now. Now we owe it to him." Mikey said.

"Let's go." Leo ordered and they followed him. Splinter was still leading too, to sniff Randall out as well.

But on the way, they ran into more commandoes and one of these set off an alarm.

…

Randall tried to prevent the sharp knife from touching his soft flesh again.

"No! No, please, no!" Randall pleaded.

Bishop loved seeing his victims scared out of their wits. It made this all the more fun to do.

He had the scalpel near Randall's skin when the alarm suddenly blared. Both monster and man looked about.

"What's going on?!" Bishop demanded angrily.

"The turtles are here and are attacking everyone in sight, Agent Bishop!" A scared voice said in the microphone.

"No doubt looking for you, Lizard." Bishop said.

Randall hoped that they were, if they truly cared about him. If they got him out of here, he would call them his family for sure.

"We'll do this later, but I'm going to catch me some turtles." Bishop said. "They owe me from last time."

Then Bishop left the room.

Randall sighed a breath of relief that he wasn't going to be gutted. It could have been worse, but if the others couldn't get him out of here, he would be facing it again.

But then, a new man did come into the room. He wasn't in black commando garb, but he was in black garb like a researcher.

"I owe you big time for attacking me, you freak!" The man said. Then he held up his arm.

"You did this to me!"

Randall saw the bandages on his arm.

"Maybe you deserved it! You were going to hurt my friends!" Randall retorted.

The man then picked up the scalpel. "You more than deserve this!"

Randall watched him warily. The man got near him and there was nothing he could do, as it happened so fast.

The scalpel was brought down so fast and sliced across Randall's soft flesh on his belly.

Randall screamed in pain.

The man knew that Bishop had been wanting to cut the belly, and he just did him a favor, and as payback.

"That'll teach you to do that again!" The man said angrily, but proud of himself. He saw the blood coming from the wound.

Outside the room, Splinter had heard Randall's scream. "This way!" He said and they all followed him.

They found the room and burst in.

They saw a man hovering by the table with Randall on it.

"Let our friend go or else!" Leo demanded.

"I'll kill him! I swear I will!" The man said.

The man was so near Randall right now, that despite his pain, the man was too close to him and he did see the others and had heard what the man said. The man was within reach.

Randall grabbed with his teeth onto the injured arm once again, making the man scream.

That got the turtles, human friends, and Splinter into the room.

The man was ready to jam the scalpel into Randall's throat when Don's bo hit the scalpel away and Randall let go.

Donatello hit the man's arm and then the stomach. Mikey then hit him in the head, knocking him unconscious.

Randall saw it was really his friends. His eyes softened.

They undid the leather straps.

"We'll get these wounds taken care of when we get home." Don said.

"But we need to wrap them now." April said.

Don took some bandages out of the bag the others had brought with supplies in case any of them had been hurt.

Bishop then burst into the room. "You aren't going anywhere!"

"You will not touch my sons or Randall!" Splinter said angrily.

"We'll see, Rodent." Bishop said with a glare and he prepared to fight Splinter.

Don continued wrapping Randall's wounds while the others went to join Splinter in the fight. But he was proving to be more than they could handle, except for Splinter.

Bishop made so many moves to dodge the three turtles, and April and Casey, but Splinter soon hit him in the head and kicked him into a wall.

Bishop was not pleased.

Don guarded Randall and he even had a go at him.

But Randall wasn't going to let this go either. When everyone's back was turned, he climbed up a wall to the ceiling.

And as Bishop advanced on Don, despite his pain, Randall swung his lower body down and hit Bishop square in the face, knocking him clear back into another wall, winding him.

The others all looked at him.

Randall came down.

"You stupid, pathetic waste! You should be the one who's killed!" Randall said angrily. He approached the agent, not appearing to listen to his pain.

"We'll see, Lizard."

The man got up and charged the lizard monster, but Randall was faster and ran to the side and tripped his feet.

The man fell forward and Leo had gotten closer and he slashed Bishop with one of his katanas. When he got up again, Raph gave him a good kick to the chest and it sent him flying into a far away wall. The man was down. He was now getting the snot beat out of him.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw a very angry purple lizard in front of him, growling and baring his teeth.

The others were happy to let Randall do as he pleased right now.

Randall pounced, but Bishop got out of the way. He was fast.

"You have no idea what you're up against!" Bishop said. "Until next time, freaks!" He said and escaped out of a secret opening in a wall.

Randall had nearly come face to face with the wall. He growled. He would be glad to kill him.

"Let's go, Randall." Splinter said. "We'll get him another time."

"I hate that guy!" Randall said.

"So do we." Raph said.

"He did try to dissect us too one other time." Mikey said. "He was going to do me first."

Randall calmed down and then, when the adrenaline wore off, the pain came back full force. He bared his teeth in pain and his lower hands held his stomach.

If he had been able to, and not had the stomach wound, or his side wound, he would have killed him the same way as Hun. With bandages on, his invisibility was no good right now.

They all found a way out of Bishop's hideout and back to the Battle Shell.


	28. Chapter 28

Randall found himself once again on the infirmary bed in the back. Blood had soaked the bandages.

It was a long drive home to the lair. But once there, Randall was carried down by Leo and Raph. He was in too much pain to walk now.

Don gave him a sedative to go to sleep and he was able to patch up the wounds a lot better.

The place where Bishop had taken a skin sample had been a little deep too and the belly wound was a little deep in the tissue, but nothing to where it would be harming the organs.

Don sewed up the skin and with some help, got Randall's middle bandaged up again. And for now, he would let him sleep off the sedative.

He had had wounds, but they weren't as deep to be critical, and the wounds had been bound up before there was any critical blood loss. So Randall was okay to not need an IV and heart monitor.

Don and Mikey told the others what had happened before they were taken. Randall had fought alongside them and never left them.

"I think Randall truly has earned the title tonight as one of our family." Splinter said.

"I think he has too, Father." Leo said. "He's saved us all in one way or another."

"I'll agree to that too." Raph said.

"He's like another brother too." Mikey added.

"And he's a great help around here." Don said. "His abilities are more than what we need to deal with our enemies. And we could continue to need to have him around. And he's told me how much he longs for a family."

"It's not too much to ask for in life." April said.

"And I'm glad he's only kept a business relationship with April." Casey said.

April elbowed him. She was glad for it too though. She had no problem being his friend, but she had no interest in him as anything else. Or being like an adoptive sister, like she was with the turtles.

Randall might have done some things in his past that were bad, but he had done things with this family that had made him a far better person now than he was in the past.

"I think we should let him rest for now. Let's all go to bed." Splinter said.

"I'll take the first watch." Leo said. "Don, you and Mikey go to bed. This happened to him as well as you."

"Come and get me if anything gets worse." Don said.

"Of course."

Everyone else went to bed. Leo sat down on a chair to watch over Randall. He was sure he was going to be fine. Leo was sure now that Randall knew how dangerous Bishop was, just as well as the Shredder.

And Randall had shown true potential in wanting to kill them both. He had already killed Hun. Well, at least Randall was showing interest in only wanting to get rid of the right ones.

A little after dawn, Randall finally woke up from the sedation. Leo was nearly asleep himself until he heard groaning. He sat up more fully.

"Randall, how are you feeling?" Leo asked.

"Tired. Sore. It took everything… out of me." Randall winced. His wounds were throbbing.

"You'll be fine. Just give it some time."

"How did they look?"

"They were deep enough to need stitches, but nothing too life threatening."

"Now what?"

"We'll take it one day at a time." Leo said. "But don't let those evil maniacs destroy you. It's alright to hate them, as do we. But we don't live to kill everyone. Usually only in the heat of a battle does it happen with us."

"Before being banished, I had never aimed to be a killer. I always obeyed laws. And I only tried to help our world."

"You can continue to help ours. Last night while your wounds were being treated, my father said that he does officially count you as one of our family. Do you feel like you can accept that honor?"

Randall's eyes lit up. "Why would it take him this long to say that?"

"He was just worried if you would properly fit in with us."

"Yes, I can accept that. I have wanted to belong somewhere all my life, with others that want me around." Randall said.

Leo smiled. "We'll talk it over later with everyone."

Not long after that, Don came in to see how Randall was doing.

Randall was helped to his feet by the two turtles so Don could take the bandages off to see how the wounds were doing this morning. And this was when Randall got the first look of what had been done to him.

Don had once again done a good job on stitches, but this was the second time within a short time that he had been injured and requiring stitches.

"These might be able to come out in just one week since they weren't as deep as the last ones." Don said.

"That's good to hear." Randall said.

There seemed to be a bit of sadness in his voice.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked.

"They never should have been able to get the drop on me."

"I know you have some abilities that we don't, but you can't stop everything that happens to us, or to you." Leo said.

"Did they ask anything to you what they wanted with us?" Don asked.

"No. At that time he seemed only interested in me. I never told him anything he wanted to know, and yet, he asked me if I was an alien."

"Bishop's obsessed with trying to protect Earth from alien life forms out there, claiming he wants an army of super soldiers." Don said. "There's probably nothing wrong with that, but the way he's going about it is all wrong."

"Yeah, we met some aliens, the ones that made us who we are today." Leo said. "And they are nicer than he is. All but one."

"I know you've told me of these aliens, but are you guys part alien?"

"No. It was just some ooze that was used to make their transmat to go home. It affected us and Leatherhead. We were all once ordinary animals before becoming mutants." Don said.

"Bishop said that my genetic makeup was different than yours, which of course, it would be. As I am not a mutant." Randall said.

"With you, I'm sure he'll want you back for more study, Randall, so you'll have to be careful whenever we deal with him and his cronies." Don said.

"I intend to be. And if I can, I'll get rid of him."

"He's not so easy to take down. Who knows what he does with himself behind the scenes, but he's no ordinary human." Leo said.

After they said that, Mikey came in to the infirmary. The three of them looked over at him.

"Hey, bro! You're up!" Mikey said happily.

Mikey walked over calmly as he knew his friend was hurt. He gave him a calm hug.

"You feel like having some breakfast?" Mikey asked when he let go.

"Sure."

"Something gentle, Mikey. He still has the drug in his system." Don said.

"Toast and eggs then." Mikey said.

"That'll be fine."

Mikey left. He went to get breakfast started. They were going to take the morning off for training today.

While waiting for the food to get finished, April was helping Mikey, the gang sat in the living room.

Splinter gave a little speech on how Randall was now officially part of their family, as he had earned it for helping them out so many times. Despite his past, he did deserve a family that cared about him.

At this moment, to Randall, this felt like an initiation into another fraternity, but this one was way better than the one with the RORs so long ago. As their initiation had not been so nice, involving something unpleasant.

"So, do you accept this offer to be one of our family?" Splinter asked.

"I've wanted this all my life, Splinter. No one has ever cared about me as much as what you guys have done for me. Yes, I'll accept the offer." Randall said. "And even back in the day when I thought I had real friends in my fraternity in college, they turned out to be nothing more than losers just because I made one small mistake and kicked me out. I just don't want to be kicked out for making small mistakes."

"We all make small mistakes. Raph does all the time, and we don't kick him out." Mikey said. He had come out of the kitchen to tell them breakfast was ready.

Raph gave Mikey a noogie. Mikey laughed. Randall smiled.

"Everyone deserves a family." Don said.

"And we may be one small bunch, but we are a family." Leo said. "And friends that we make usually do become like family members too."

"Thanks you guys." Randall said. "This means the world to me."

"Let's go have breakfast now, shall we?" Splinter said.

They all went to the kitchen for their food. There was a big pancake breakfast waiting. Randall only had eggs and toast this time. He didn't have a big appetite probably from the drug. But everyone else helped themselves.

Mike and Don might have had very little of the drugs left in their systems too from Bishop's commandoes darting them, but theirs was more worn off.

After breakfast, April and Casey went home. Randall would stay down in the lair for a few days. Don wanted to keep an eye on his wounds.

Randall would watch his friends train, but he was in no shape to do it himself at the moment. And even without the stitches, the internal muscles would still need some time to heal.


	29. Chapter 29

A week later, the stitches came out and the wounds were closed, and more scars added to Randall's body.

He had stayed at the lair all week and hung out with the turtles. But now that the stitches were out, he wanted to go back to April's. He was ready to get back to work in the shop.

Living with April and at least paying her rent was about the only thing that nearly felt like a normal life of paying a bill for something he was rightfully earning in a job and for a place to live.

At the end of the month, the family showed Randall what Thanksgiving was all about. This time it was just the family of mutants, April and Casey, Randall, and Leatherhead. There was more room in the lair than at April's for everyone.

There was turkey, mashed potatoes, chips, ham, fruit salad, homemade chocolate chip cookies and brownies. And more. It was a well thought out dinner. And all the friends enjoyed eating it.

Conversations went on about what had happened that year and in the past. Randall could only listen with intent when the stories were on other subjects not related to him.

Each one of them did say what they were grateful for. Mostly it was all for the family and friends that they had, and how they looked out for each other.

Randall was the most grateful that he had finally found a family that cared about him and to let him stay. Though, as much as he did enjoy staying here, he did begin to wonder about trying to go back to the monster world again too.

But he figured the price would be too high for going back and he didn't want to go to jail, that is, if he was told that he was officially mixed up in the scandal with the scream extractor.

Thanksgiving was great, but there was a coldness settling in from the winter weather starting to settle in. Randall wasn't too comfortable with that. He was glad he was staying at April's. It was warmer there.

The turtles were planning to wait until after Christmas before heading up to the farmhouse. Don would keep the lair warm with heaters as best he could. Randall would even come down to help him work on them. Don showed him how they worked.

Patrols were put on hold a lot more as it got colder outside, but on nights when it was mild, like in the 40's, they would go out at times, but Randall had put a halt on all patrols for him. Cold air just didn't work well with him. He got sick easily in the cold times of year. At least now, he could live indoors and not like an outdoor animal like he had down in the south. But it had been warmer there.

Randall almost couldn't help but wonder what the humans were thinking about what had happened to him down there. He wasn't raiding their things and lives anymore. He was sure they were happy for that. So was he. Those southerners acted like they didn't know much about how to care about other living beings at all. But then, he had met some evil ones up here in New York too.

…

Over the next few weeks, Randall didn't go to the lair as much since it was colder down there, but April got him a coat and a scarf. Of course it was only good for two of his arms to go into.

It was a purple coat and for one of the thinnest people. It fit pretty good. The sleeves were a little baggier though. But it would work if it kept him warmer when he had to go outside. If he would go to the lair, he preferred entering from above ground at the time being. And more so, being driven, because his coat would never allow him to get away from enemies. He could only do that with his invisibility and no clothes on.

Since Randall wasn't in the lair so much, everyone began planning what they were going to do, buy, or make for their family and friends for Christmas.

The turtles had gone to a Battle Nexus last fall and had helped get the Daimyo's son back that spring shortly before Randall had come along. They were planning on a few of those dimensional friends coming too.

One day, while in the shop with Randall, April asked Randall something.

He was unloading a box of delicate china. "Hey there." April said.

"Hi." He said, still minding his own business.

"So, did you monsters celebrate Christmas too?" She asked.

It made him jump for a moment and he accidentally dropped a plate and broke it.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you with the question." April said.

"No, it's fine. My bad. It slipped out of my hand." Randall said. He put the others down and went to go get the broom and scooper.

"But did you?"

"Yes. I know you've told me what it really represents, but we just never saw it like that.

But it was a special holiday for them to exchange gifts and all that. The dinners. I never got to have such lavishing dinners with a family. Just in foster care. I was just always given food or hand-me-down things. There was nothing special for me as a child. I just didn't get anything special. I always had to get myself things if I wanted them." Randall explained. "But my old job did have gift exchange on Christmas too."

"That sounds like fun."

"It would be if you were a liked person. And I wasn't liked very well."

"When you go around being a grump all the time, it's bound to rub off that way. I would think that what you told me from how your fraternity treated you first, as a young adult, if you had stayed away from them, you might have been the young gentleman that you were then before they started you down a darker side of yourself. You may not have had parents, but the foster care system did raise you well enough to have nice manners." April said.

"Yeah. They made sure we all did. If we didn't, we got in trouble. Even if it meant going to bed without dinner. We would be forced to clean the whole house by ourselves and it was like a dawn to dusk job for one little monster to do." Randall said. "I witnessed it more often from the other kids doing it, as I was the one that was often picked on, but I too did it a few times. And it wasn't fun."

"I can imagine not. But anyway, what I originally wanted to talk about to you was, have you considered doing anything for your new family for Christmas? I can help you out if you need me."

Up until now, it hadn't crossed his mind.

"I hadn't thought about it, but I can." He said.

"You know, they all might be planning things for you. Just wait until it gets here." April said.

"Is it just going to be us on Christmas?"

"No. On Christmas, we tend to invite a few more guests than on Thanksgiving."

"Like who?"

"The turtles' friends from the junkyard, some friends from another dimension, Angel, the Silver Sentry. Just to name a few. So yes, it will be bigger than at Thanksgiving." April said.

"Leatherhead too?"

"Yes, him too."

"But who are these others from another dimension?" Randall asked, as it had struck his curiosity.

"Some friends that the turtles made at the Battle Nexus. Mikey turned out to be the champion. Leo didn't get a fair share because he was shot and poisoned. One of those friends saved his life. And the other is the leader of that dimension. He's the king of that place. His son was lost to them for some weird magical reason. But his son was also the cause for Leo getting shot and poisoned." April explained.

"Sounds like one big loser. Just as I know I once was."

"I got to meet him once, the first time he met us and challenged Leo to a dual. He nearly finished him then too."

"Why was there a dual in the first place?"

"He wanted to fight the Shredder first, but as how Leo beat him in combat, he wanted to fight Leo instead. He would go to any length to try to beat Leo or kill him."

"And he was lost to them you said?"

"He and a dragon got sucked into a portal to who knows where. But he did come back into the picture and he was magically turned into a little boy again."

"Oh."

This was one tale he hadn't heard yet, entirely. The turtles seemed to be silent around him about this.

"The guys are always complaining about Mikey being the Battle Nexus Champion because he rubs the win in their faces every chance he gets."

"Not around me, he doesn't."

"Maybe when you're around, he straightens up more. Mikey calls you his best friend. You must do something for him that makes him wise up."

"Hang out with him so he's not always annoying his brothers. I just need a best friend myself. Catching up on some missed childhood opportunities I guess. I'm an adult, but I don't mind some goofing off."

"Everyone deserves some fun in their life, no matter how old they are."

"Yep." Randall said.

They finished their conversation and got back to work. At least now Randall would also have an opportunity to meet some other new people. But this other dimension thing had his attention. But as did trying to figure out what he could do for his new family. He knew he couldn't go shopping.

Days later, Randall just said that he wasn't much for getting people things.

"April, how about I just cook a meal for them for Christmas? It's the best I can offer."

"That's fine."

"But on that day, it will just be me cooking for them. No help, provided I have all the ingredients I need."

"I can make sure to get you what you need. Casey too if needed."

"Thanks." Randall said, having his special gift in mind for his new family.


	30. Chapter 30

One evening, when Randall came down to hang in the lair, he noticed how chilly it was there. He had his coat on for good measure. When he got on the couch to watch TV, he grabbed a blanket for his lower body to keep it warm too.

Mikey was in his room, doing something else. Usually this would be their hang out night, but Mikey was busy tonight. Randall didn't mind though. He could use some TV down time.

But later on, Mikey came out of his room to ask for some measurements from him.

"What do you need measurements for?"

"It's something special I'm making." Mikey said. "But I can't tell."

Randall rolled his eyes. The things that people did around this holiday for the surprises.

They went to Mikey's room and they took Randall's measurements. Mikey just wanted to be precise about what he was making for his friend.

Leo, Splinter, and Don all knew what they were going to do for Randall. As he had done incredible things for them, though they did wonder what he was going to do for them for the holiday.

After the measurements had been taken, Raph went to talk to Mikey after Randall had left the room.

Randall looked over his shoulder. His friends were all being very secretive. He knew how he could find out what they were doing behind his back, but then, maybe it was better to wait. They were going to wait for his surprise.

The turtles were all busy for the next two weeks and the closer it got to Christmas, the more antsy everyone got. They knew of Randall's talent for sneaking around and were worried about if he would find out before the gifts for him were ready.

Randall on the other hand, just kept to himself. He went over with April what he was going to make. She would make sure to get him all the ingredients he needed for it to be something special.

"You haven't eavesdropped on the guys, have you, with your invisibility?" April had to ask.

"No, why?"

"They all have their ideas about what they're doing for you, and they don't want you finding out. Please, let it stay as surprises."

"I haven't done anything to spoil their surprises. I've let them do their things." Randall said.

"You're sure?"

Randall folded his arms behind his back. Then he held up his upper right arm with the thumb folded in. "Scout's honor." He replied. "I saw it in a movie." He had a huge, but sincere smile on his face.

"Alright. Keep it that way. I know people like to know what they get for Christmas ahead of time. But we like to keep it special until the holiday arrives." She said.

"And I am, I swear. I can be impatient on many things, but this, I can wait on it." He said.

The guys continued to watch out for him. Leo and Splinter could sense things more than the others, but they never did sense him around when they were planning their gifts. He was keeping his promise on giving them the privacy needed for the gifts.

….

The night of Christmas Eve arrived a week later. This was the night Randall had planned to give his gift to the family. Tomorrow would be for the other guests that would come and visit.

April and Randall arrived in the warehouse above and went down to the lair. She had shopped for the ingredients the day before for him.

When they got down there, Randall made an announcement.

"Everyone, I'm making the dinner for everyone, and I want no help with this whatsoever. And I ask that you stay out of the kitchen until dinner is ready."

"Sure." Leo said.

"That's fine with me." Don said.

"Whatever you want." Raph said.

"Can I help?" Mikey asked.

"No! Not his time, Mike. Sorry." Randall said.

Mikey felt a little hurt that his friend had snapped at him. He wanted to help him.

Randall then turned to the kitchen with the bags in his hands.

April went over to him. "Don't take it personally, Mikey. This is something he wants to do for all of you. It's a surprise."

"Oh, okay."

"Come on. Let's go prepare your gift for him." April said.

"Yeah, it should be done by tomorrow, but the extra help would be nice." Mikey said, and they went to go get it finished.

In the kitchen, Randall began taking all he needed out of the bags and spreading them out. He wanted to make this the best meal for them after all they had done for him, as this was really the best he could think of for a Christmas gift. And he would much rather cook for ones that he knew and a smaller group. But he would be here for the gathering tomorrow too. He had taken his coat off before dealing with the supplies too.

From the others' perspective, they wondered what it was that Randall was cooking for dinner. They hoped it was all good. They would know soon enough when the scent began wafting around the lair. The smells made their stomachs growl for the dinner even more.

April knew what the ingredients were, but even she was in the dark about what Randall had planned.

…..

An hour later, Casey and Leatherhead came over for the evening meal, but it still wasn't quite done yet. But it was smelling good.

Casey had brought over a fake tree this year so there wouldn't be any prickly spines on it like last year. They all began decorating the tree. Mikey was taking a break from his gift.

"What's for dinner?" Casey asked.

"We don't know yet, Casey. It's a surprise for us all." Raph said.

"Randall's cooking it for us." Mikey said. "But I'll be cooking tomorrow's."

"I'll help." April said. She loved to cook the Christmas dinner.

Randall could hear a lot of babbling going on outside of the kitchen, but he had his hands full. But he was making sure no one peeked in to see what he was making. He knew making the food for more than one could have it's stresses, but this was just for more than an average dinner. But for the number of people he had cooked for before.

Mikey was probably the most anxious to get his hands on that delicious food.

"I'm hungry." He whined.

"I'm sure it will be done in just a little bit." Splinter said.

It took a total of another hour and a half for all the food to get done. In that time, Mikey and April finally finished his gift for Randall too.

"It's ready!" Randall finally called.

They all came into the kitchen to see what had been put on the table. What they all saw astounded them.

A big turkey, sushi trays, ham, some mixed vegetables and a fruit salad for ones that ate them, some brownies for dessert, cottage cheese, and two pizzas. One pizza was a meat lover's, and the other was a Hawaiian. Randall had eaten enough of this dimension's food to not make what monsters would make back in his world that these guys might consider gross.

"So, what do you think?" He asked.

"This is incredible, Randall." April said.

"I'll say. That's the most you've ever made for us." Raph said.

"This is my Christmas gift for all of you." Randall said. "Enjoy. Now you can help me."

They all began to get food they wanted on the plates provided.

"Thank you for making this for us, Randall." Don said.

"Yeah, it all looks so good." Leo said.

"It smells good." Casey said.

"You must have lots of practice cooking." LH said.

"Yeah. Mike's taught me a lot about Earth food cooking. And April."

"Thank you for this amazing meal, Randall." Splinter said.

Randall was the last to get food, as this was his gift to them all. He was hungry for it though.

The family just used the ordinary kitchen table tonight. Tomorrow, they would have a bigger table for their extra guests.

At dinner, Randall watched everyone eat the food he had made and they all were eating it, so he must have done it all just right. He and Leatherhead were the only ones that didn't eat the fruit and veggies. Everyone else had grabbed a piece of nearly everything.

After eating their first rounds, then they all went back for seconds. That meant that they did indeed like the food he had made.

The food was next to gone when it was all over. The brownies had remained for dessert. Randall passed them out. Everyone got two of them. Even the brownies were next to gone when they were all passed out.

After they were done eating, many of them were rubbing their stomachs, they were so full.

"That was real awesome food, Randall. Thanks for making it." Leo said.

"I've never felt so full." Raph said, "Aside from some of Mikey's cooking." He laughed.

"It was very wonderful." Splinter said.

"Thanks. This was the best gift I could give you all after what you've done for me." Randall said.

After dinner, they all went and watched a few movies in the living room. It was a great Christmas Eve for the family and friends.

The humans and crocodile went home later in the evening. Randall was going to stay overnight tonight. He just didn't want to go out into that cold overnight air. He also ended up putting his coat back on when the cold air got to him again.

Tomorrow would be when he would get gifts from the others.


	31. Chapter 31

In the morning, around nine a.m. was when everyone found themselves getting up.

Randall got gifts from all the turtles and Splinter. These were the most gifts he had ever gotten at a Christmas.

"Thanks for all the presents, guys."

"Go on, open them." Mikey said.

Randall opened them. He opened Mike's first. It was a good sized gift. He took it out of the box.

"Wow." He said. It was a knitted sweater for him. The length of it went from his lower neck down to over his stomach. It enabled all four of his arms to go in it. The color of it was red, with some white around the edges. It had some buttons on it for opening or closing.

"Is the color alright for you?" Mikey asked.

The color did remind Randall of the jacket he had with the RORs so long ago. Then he looked at Mikey. "Yeah, it's great. It reminds me of a jacket I had so long ago."

"Try it on." Leo said.

"It wasn't easy making it with the needles." Mikey said. He held out his hands that looked all poked up. "April helped a little too. She helped me finish it last night."

Randall slipped the sweater on around him after he took his coat off. After buttoning it up, it did feel warm on him.

"How's it feel?" Don asked.

"Definitely warm. Thanks, Mike."

"You're welcome." Mikey said.

Then Randall opened up a small red box. Inside, was a green paper lizard. This one was from Master Splinter.

Randall took it out of the box. It had only four legs instead of his eight limbs. "Wow. This is nice."

"It's an origami lizard. I make origami swans and animals for Christmas." Splinter said. "I could only make it with four legs instead of eight, from the directions I was following."

"Thanks, Master Splinter." Randall said.

"You're welcome." The wise rat said with a smile.

He set it down and moved on to another big box. This time it was from Raphael.

Randall knew he and Raph weren't always the closest of friends, but he hoped for something good. When he got it open, he was surprised it was a black leather jacket.

"Whoa!" Randall said.

"Your temper and things just make me think of you as a road warrior, even though you don't drive." Raph said with a smile.

"Cool, Raph. Thanks." Randall said.

"No prob." Raph said. "Case and I had it specially ordered."

Randall tried it on and it fit. He did look like a biker now.

The next gift was from Don. He got a giant encyclopedia on mechanics type work, and there was an additional gift. A piece of paper that said "No more glasses" on it.

"What's this, Don?" Randall said, holding it up.

"It's a clue to what the last part of my gift is, if you're willing to accept it." Don said.

"What is it?"

"With the life we lead, Randall, and you do help us at times, but for all you've done for us, and you would hate to have to worry about broken glasses or lost contacts, what I'm offering is a chance to get rid of them for good." Don explained.

Now this had Randall's attention for sure. "You… mean that?"

"Yes. Leatherhead and I have been studying eye anatomy and how to fix vision that can be reversed. We think we can do it. Do you want this?" Don offered.

"My vision's been bad all my life. It would be nice not to have to wear them anymore. It's a little worrisome, but I'd be willing to go for it if you can correct it." Randall said.

Don smiled. "We can do it anytime after today. Before we go up to the farmhouse if you want."

"I still need a little time to feel ready."

"That's fine. Unless you want to wait until spring."

"No. At least just a few days."

"Alright."

"Thanks for the book too."

"You're welcome."

These guys were going all out to be the best friends he had ever had.

Leo's gift was last. Inside the box was a rock with a lizard on it.

Randall was curious about it.

"It's a Feng Shui lizard. To help ease your mind a bit more when you look at it. April ordered it after I had picked it out." Leo said.

"It's nice. Thanks, Leonardo."

"You're welcome."

"The gifts were all nice. This is more than what I've gotten all my life at the best. No one's ever given me such thought out gifts before."

"You're welcome, Randall." Splinter said. "Now, how about some breakfast. I'm cooking for all of you this morning."

Splinter didn't offer very often to cook, but he could. They all welcomed it this morning. Randall had worked hard on last night's meal and Mikey cooked most of the time. It gave them a break.

Splinter made some tea and eggs, sausage, toast, bacon, and pancakes. It was a great breakfast and it wasn't burnt to a crisp.

They would later expect guests again in the day.

April and Casey came over in the mid-afternoon to start helping getting things ready for the guests that were going to be coming over this evening.

Leatherhead would come over about four. He wanted to help too, if it was needed. When he got there, he talked to Randall and asked if he liked the idea of having his vision corrected.

"I'd love to have it corrected. I hate bad vision, as it's been this way since I was a kid." Randall said.

"Genetics maybe?" LH asked.

"I don't know. Plus some head injuries here and there."

"We'll schedule it as soon as possible in a few days."

Randall nodded.

Casey left to go get their other human guests while April was still busy cooking the dinner along with Mikey.

Leo and Splinter were expecting their other dimension guests anytime now.

Randall had climbed to the upstairs part of the lair to oversee everything. Then the elevator doors came open and there was a small gang of humans being led in with blindfolds on. These must be the other human guests.

The Professor he had met along with two junkyard friends, a teenage girl with purple hair, and a dark skinned man wearing white.

Randall knew the junkyard humans, and had seen the Silver Sentry in the comics and on TV, but this would be the first time he met him in person. The girl he had never seen before.

Mikey came out of the kitchen when he heard the Silver Sentry was here. "Hey, it's the Silver Sentry!" Mikey greeted.

"Hey, there, Turtle Titan." Silver greeted his friend. They gave each other a handshake.

Randall thought it weird that the man had called Mikey Turtle Titan. But then, Mike had told him he had his own super hero name.

While he was still up there, Klunk came over to Randall and rubbed on his stomach while he was standing there, not paying attention, though watching the action down below.

Randall jumped when he felt the soft fur connect with his scales. He saw Mikey's cat was rubbing on him.

"Why don't you go somewhere else and do that." He said. But Klunk kept on rubbing on him.

Randall sighed and then, for the first time, reached down and petted the cat gently with his left lower hand. Klunk rubbed his head into his hand. To Randall, it actually felt good. Maybe after all these months, the cat finally accepted him as one of the family.

"Hey, Randall!" He heard his name from down below. It was Mikey.

"What?"

"Come down here." Mikey said.

"Coming. Got to go, kitty." Randall said and moved him aside, getting down on all eights to go down the pillar.

The guests saw Randall coming down.

"Wow!" Angel, the girl, said.

When he got to the floor below, he stood back up on his four feet.

"Everyone who hasn't met him yet, this is my, our, friend, Randall." Mikey introduced him.

"Hi." He said a little shyly.

"That's a cool trick." Angel said. "Coming down the walls."

"Thanks, and you are?" Randall asked the girl.

"I'm Angel."

"So you're the girl I've heard about."

"Yep, that'd be me."

"Nice to meet you, Randall." Silver Sentry said, shaking hands with him after Angel.

"Randall Boggs." Randall said.

"How long have you known Michelangelo and his family?" Silver asked.

"Since this spring."

Then there was a bright light as a spinning portal came out of the pond in the lair.

The others had seen it a year ago, but Randall was a bit mystified. Then out stepped a big, tall older man with a mask on, a young boy by his side, a white rabbit and a rhino.

Leo and Splinter stepped forward to greet them first. They spoke in Japanese and exchanged gifts. Then they stepped over to join in the meeting.

"We'd like to introduce you to our newest friend, Randall Boggs." Leo said.

"Randall, these are our dimensional friends we talked about, this is the Daimyo, his son, Miyomoto Usagi, and Genisuki, or Gen for short." Leo introduced them.

"Any friend of the turtles and Splinter Sensei is a friend of ours." The Daimyo said.

"Uh, thanks." Randall said. Then he did eye the kid. He looked to be about nine years old.

The kid was rather nervous of him.

"Nice to meet you, Randall." Usagi said.

Randall looked up. "Yeah. You too. I just didn't know the turtles were friends with uh, people that weren't humans from another dimension."

"You look like you could be from one of the lizard clan in my world. Just not so many limbs." Usagi said.

"Thanks."

"You were looking at the young boy very suspiciously." Usagi said.

"It's nothing. I'm just not always comfortable around young kids." Randall said. "And he seemed afaid of me."

Randall knew he used to love going for that scare. And if the kid did something bad, he would love to do it again. But not with everyone else around.

"Where's the free food? I'm starving." Gen spoke up.

Randall noticed the rhino kept his eyes closed. But he seemed to know where he was going just fine.

"The food should be ready soon." Randall said.

While dinner was finishing up, the family went to go play some games before dinner to work up the appetite.

Randall watched as there was an arm wrestling contest. He knew there was no way he had the strength to do it.

"So, Randall, what's your best talent?"

"Huh?" He was broken from his thoughts from the Silver Sentry. He had beat both Raph and Casey again. Now everyone was looking at him.

He looked at the turtles. Leo in particular. He gave a nod.

Randall had his Christmas sweater on. "I would have to take this off to show ya."

He began taking his sweater off.

"You don't have to." Usagi said.

"You have to see it." Mikey said.

Randall tossed his sweater to Mikey. Then he made sure they were all watching.

"This is my best talent." Then he vanished.

There were gasps from the audience of newbies. They looked around for him and then they felt taps on their backs or shoulders. They looked around and nothing there.

"BOO!" He reappeared and it scared the kid. He fell back into his dad.

"I couldn't resist." Randall said, with a little giggle.

"Hey, don't scare my son." The Daimyo said.

"Sorry."

"We're sorry, Lord Daimyo. It's just one talent that Randall has used many times, to even help save us. He has helped save my sons and me while he's been with us. It serves him well in being defensive." Splinter explained.

The Daimyo held his son. "Then I congratulate you, Randall, but my son is just shy right now."

Randall knew what that was like all too well as a kid. "I used to be like that too. But found a way to overcome it." He wasn't going to name it though.

"How was that?"

"Friends." He just stated.

The turtles and Splinter and their human friends knew, but wouldn't go into it.

April left to go check on the dinner and Randall followed her, wanting the attention off of him. He didn't mind short bouts of attention, but too much was too much. At least this kind.

Usagi eyed Randall warily. He went up to Leo and spoke softly in his ear.

"There's something off about him, Leonardo-san."

"Don't worry, Usagi. My family and I are aware of some things about him that can be off to others. He's had a rough time in former months before he came here. But trust me, he has proven his worth here." Leo said. "He can be quite the warrior in his own way if given the chance."

"That's good."

"Some of the scars on his front and back side were from a few of our worst enemies. He saved our lives getting those wounds. And we have taught him some new ways as well. He's learning how to be honorable. He comes from a different world too."

"What is he anyway? I know he's a lizard, but what does he call himself?" Usagi asked.

They stepped away from the group. "He's from a dimension where creatures simply called Monsters, live. He's a lizard monster. They weren't warriors at all really, but just know how to be scary. That's all I know." Leo said. "He doesn't have anything to go back to, and we're helping him to be a newer, better person. He wasn't well liked there and he prefers it here, as at least, he's getting respect and friendship that he clearly needs in his life. And being scary pays off with the enemies."

Usagi could see Leonardo's explanation fit. "Well, just take care with him, my friend."

"I will. Thanks for your concern."

"Dinner's ready." April said. She and Randall had their hands full bringing some food out to the table that had been set up. Mikey went in to help too.

The guests went to find their seats. And once all the food was on the table, they all took turns passing the food around.

Randall had to sit on a special chair because of his anatomy. Don had made him one not long ago.

There were small conversations throughout dinner, but they all were loving the Christmas dinner. There were cookies for dessert tonight.

The guys all knew that Randall was a center of attention as much as he tried not to be. He was sitting by Mikey and Don. The Daimyo's son was eying him the most. Randall just tried to ignore everyone looking at him.

Later on, after dinner was over and some played some more games or talked, Randall helped moved the dishes back into the kitchen with April.

"I'll do the dishes." Randall said.

"Are you sure?" April asked.

"Yes. I don't want to be around everyone too much. It's just too much for me."

"Okay. But if you feel up to it, you're welcome to join us."

"Maybe when the dishes are done."

April left him to it. Randall just wanted a good reason to get away from them.

Not long into doing the dishes, there was a voice behind him.

"You carry a burden on your shoulders and yet, you deceive many."

Randall jumped and turned around real fast, holding his heart. Fungus had done that to him too a few times. But he stayed visible.

"What do you want?" Randall asked.

"I came to ask you honestly, that you would not try to harm my friends, right?" Usagi asked.

"Of course I wouldn't. I've learned some hard lessons from them. I'm trying to better myself. They've taught me many things. But there's just still so many bad memories that aren't easy to let go of." Randall said.

"Of course. Bad experiences are never good. But how you deal with them is another matter entirely."

"You are a fighter too, like the turtles, aren't you?" Randall asked.

"Yes, I am a Samurai." Usagi replied.

"I've heard some stories about you assisting the turtles and Splinter against some enemies."

"Yes, Draco was one and the other was the Daimyo's son once. He was recovered and turned young again. He was misguided in his ways. He was a deadly fighter himself. He was against Leonardo for just defeating him. But he's clearly on his way to being taught new better ways and with Leonardo as his friend, they can be friends now." Usagi said. "Leonardo mentioned to me that you were from a monster dimension?"

"Yes. All kinds of different ones. Being a reptile though was like a crime. I wasn't well liked just for being who I was. And I was overlooked or rejected so much. I have a habit of not trusting others until I really know them." Randall wasn't going to tell this rabbit his past bad things.

"I can see that."

"Look, I have to get this done. It's nice meeting you, but please, I want to be left alone." Randall said.

"As you wish." Usagi said.

At least Usagi was respectful of another's wishes. Randall gave him that.

Randall went on washing the dishes, taking his time. He heard the others talking and laughing out in the other room. He knew he just didn't have many happy memories to tell about.

When he finished the dishes, Randall went out and climbed the pillar again. He saw the Daimyo's son watching him. He sat down at the edge of floor. Klunk came over to him again. He started petting the cat.

The boy couldn't help but be a little curious about the creature that had scared him earlier. And Angel definitely held great appreciation for what Randall was.

While the Daimyo was talking to Splinter at one point, his son wandered close to the pillar, looking up.

Randall saw the kid looking at him. He smiled. The kid still looked puzzled at him.

Then the lizard had an idea. If scaring was bad, then he might turn it around for once. He didn't need a wrath brought on him. From his climbing ability, he came down to talk to him after pushing Klunk away from him.

The kid backed away.

"You like patterns, kid?" Randall asked.

"Huh?" Ue, the boy, said.

Randall turned his body into blue sky and clouds, from one of his posters at his old job that he remembered how to do.

"Wow!"

"I can change into many colors." Randall said. Then he changed into a dark sky with stars. A brick wall. And some other tricky patterns.

The boy was impressed. He had never seen such a creature do that.

The fun went on until about nine and then it was time to go home. The Daimyo looked around for his son and he saw him over where Randall was, and he saw the lizard was actually making a different impression on his son now.

Splinter and the Daimyo looked over. Randall had been avoiding them all evening. It was amazing he was trying to impress a kid.

But Randall had gotten the kid to smile and laugh at the patterns he showed him he could turn. Even Usagi and Angel and the Silver Sentry were watching. Randall's skills as a skin changer were impressive.

Soon there was a bunch of clapping.

Randall stopped and he changed back to normal.

"That's an impressive show there." Silver said. "How do you do that? Change colors?"

"I was born with it. It was hard to master when I was younger and it took a lot of practice to master the changes. But it works as a defense mechanism."

"It was nice to meet you, Randall. But now, my son and I must take our leave. Come, son." Daimyo said. "And those are very impressive abilities."

"Yes, Father." Ue said. "Bye, Randall."

"Bye."

Randall had never thought he would do that for a kid. He saw the boy say bye to Leo too.

The Daimyo, Usagi and Gen all left the same way they came in.

Casey took the others home, but not before Angel said she was impressed by Randall's abilities.

Randall was glad he had made some more friends, but he didn't see these ones all the time, so it was just a little nerve wracking tonight. But he would make more efforts to be in their favors now that he knew who they were.

He now had his sweater back on and with all his gifts, he went home with April. He wanted out of that cold lair. But in a few days, he would be getting his vision corrected.

When he got home to the basement apartment, it was warmer down there than in the lair. He just couldn't stand the cold. He was glad to go to bed. But it had been the best Christmas he had ever had.


	32. Chapter 32

A few days after Christmas, as promised, Don and Leatherhead were ready to help Randall get his vision corrected.

Randall was nervous about the surgery. He wasn't crazy about surgery, and he was worried about going blind if they made a mistake. But it would be worth it to try. They had saved his life from injuries before.

He was put on an IV and sedation followed. Don and Leatherhead made sure they had everything they needed before proceeding.

Outside of the infirmary, the others waited. They just tried doing some things to stay calm. Any surgery in their home was risky.

Mikey was the most anxious about his friend going through the surgery.

Raph tried to act like there was nothing wrong, but he stayed calm for once.

Leo had found a corner and tried to meditate to stay calm as well.

A little while later, Don stepped out of the infirmary. "It's done."

The others looked over. "How is he?" Mikey asked.

"He's fine. He's sleeping off the anesthesia now. He's got some covers on his eyes. We're going to wait until he's awake before we take them off. Because it's something that has to be adjusted to slowly at first." Don explained.

"As long as he continues to help us out in battles, it will be good for Randall to have perfect vision." Leo said.

"Yep. That's the main reason why he needs this as long as he stays here. Far too many people are affected by bad vision these days and are always struggling to find their glasses or contacts." Don said.

"Can I see him anyway?" Mikey asked.

"Sure."

When Mikey walked into the infirmary, Leatherhead was just finishing getting Randall ready to wake up.

"How long until he wakes up?" Mike asked.

"It shouldn't be long now." LH replied. "He went through everything just fine."

Mikey took a seat and wanted to wait for Randall to come out of it. Leatherhead let him be.

Some time later, Randall moaned and moved. Mikey perked up.

As Randall was coming to, he tried to open his eyes and see things, but everything was pitch black yet.

"Randall? Can you hear me?" Mikey asked.

"Hm. Yes. I can't see. Am I blind?"

"No. Don and Leatherhead just have some covers over your eyes to let them to adjust before they take them off. I don't know when they come off, but they wanted you to be awake first." Mikey said.

"Well, I'm awake now and want them off."

"Let me go get them."

Mikey went to go get Don. "He's awake and wants the covers off, Donny."

Don went to the infirmary. "Randall, you still have drugs in your system. We need to wait a little longer before we take the covers off your eyes. We just want to make sure that they adjust to dark before light. We'll take the covers off before dinner. Just give it a little longer."

Randall really wanted to see what the world looked like now, but he gave in. He was wearing special eye patches that had been made special for him.

Randall laid his head back down and decided to rest. He was thirsty, but it was still too soon after waking up. He fell back asleep.

Some time later, Randall was awake again and felt he had more energy. That was when they decided to take the covers off his eyes. They were going to feed him right afterward.

Randall kept his eyes closed as the covers came off. "Okay, open them." Don said.

The family was watching.

Randall slowly opened his eyes. He could see light again, and pure pictures. He saw everyone looking at him.

"So, what do the images look like now?" Leo asked.

"Picture perfect." Randall replied. "Thanks, Donatello, and Leatherhead."

"You're welcome." LH said.

"No problem. It was our pleasure to do it." Don said.

"I must be going. Take care, my friends." Leatherhead said and left the lair.

Randall got up and he saw it was unusual to see images like this right after he opened his eyes. He would get used to it, but best of all, no more glasses or contacts to see clearly!

They all had dinner after that. But they were also going to start getting packed up to also head up to the farmhouse.

 **I know I wish I could get my vision corrected before they get worse. I hate wearing glasses. They are always getting dirty or in the way, and I hate having blurry vision. Squinting is such the biggest annoyance with my eyes. But that was something Randall and me had in common, having to wear glasses or squinting without them on.**


	33. Chapter 33

The next day, everyone was all packed up again and they all headed back up to the farmhouse for their winter getaway from the city.

Randall was a little nervous about seeing the place again. He just didn't want to go camping in this cold weather. In winter, he needed to limit his outdoor activities as much as possible. He wore his sweater and a coat to stay warm. He had to keep a blanket on over his lower body for some warmth.

When they arrived at the farmhouse, a fire was started in the fire place to get it being warm in there. Then they all got their stuff out of the truck.

For now, it was just the mutant family and Randall. April and Casey would come up for a few days and visit. If Randall wanted to go back to the city, he could when they went back. The guys just wanted him to try to give the farmhouse another chance.

"We promise, we don't go camping in the wintertime, except maybe in the barn." Leo said. "And we do go over survival stragegy tips, just to say if any of us were to fall into that situation."

"It's good to know these things even more in winter, when it's cold out and there's a harder time trying to find food and water out there." Don said.

"I know how to kill animals for food." Randall said. "And I know how to get food from humans without them knowing I'm there."

"Yes, but still, when there are no humans around, it just helps to know all you need to know to survive in cold weather." Leo said.

"Just give a few days up here and if you feel too restless, when April and Casey go back home, you can go back with them." Splinter said.

"I'll do my best." Randall said. He already saw the place was a mess after not having been lived in for so long.

"Let us clean up this place since it's been so long since we were last here." Splinter said.

There were whines of complaint. Mikey especially didn't like to clean. But then, none of them did.

"We must get this place in living order, my sons. Go on now."

They all went to the cleaning closet and got what they needed. Some dusters, brooms, mop, and a bucket. A vaccum too.

Randall was going to do some window cleaning. He could get to the higher places easier. Of course any of them could clean windows from the inside. The outside was harder. At least just getting the inside windows clean was enough.

They all pitched in to do a good job. Dust and dirt was everywhere. Moving around kept their body temperatures going too.

They spent a good portion of the day cleaning to get all the dirt and grime from all the months past not being there. The house looked good and clean in the end. Many surfaces sparkled.

When it was done, they all sat down for a little rest and to just talk. Then after they felt refreshed, Mikey and Randall went to the kitchen to start dinner. It would be well deserved since everyone had pitched in and worked hard all afternoon on the house.

Spaghetti and meatballs and bread, some cottage cheese and some fruit salad was made for dinner. Everyone pigged out on the spaghetti. It was so good.

They had all felt famished by dinner as the cleaning had worked up their appetites. But now, it was getting sated. They were so full when they were done eating.

Don and Raph decided to do the dishes. Splinter and Leo went upstairs for some meditation and talk before bed, and Mikey and Randall sat down to watch TV. Klunk jumped up on the couch beside them. Mikey petted him.

A chilly wind was blowing outside. The weather report came on and it said it was due to start snowing tomorrow morning and it was possible to get about up to five to eight inches of snow.

Randall definitely wasn't going outside in that. The mutants probably wouldn't either, but that was their choice. Training could always be moved to the barn.

Don and Raph came into the TV room just as the weather was being reported.

"I sure wouldn't want to go out in that." Don said.

"I'm not." Randall said.

"Master Splinter may let us have the day off and let us do our own things." Raph said. "Sometimes it's different up here at the house versus in the lair."

At bedtime, Randall went to his own special room while Splinter and his sons shared the attic. Don relayed the information to Splinter and Leo.

"You can have the day for yourselves tomorrow." Splinter said. "Since we all worked hard on the house today."

That was something he didn't do often.

The turtles all smiled. Mikey went down to tell Randall before he went to bed.

Randall was happy for that too.

They all slept well that night, warm and cozy in their beds.

It would be another few days before April and Casey were coming up anyway, so as long as it didn't snow again, they would be able to come up without problems and some cleaning crew would take care of the roads. Or people that drove by enough.

…..

It was a blizzard the turtles, Splinter, and Randall all woke up to the next morning. They made sure to keep the fire going in case the electricity went off. There was enough wood in there for the time being so they wouldn't have to go outside for more.

Mikey cooked breakfast. They all were going to enjoy their day off from training. They all needed breaks here and there.

After breakfast, Mike and Raph went to go watch TV. Leo went to go read a book he had brought along. Splinter went upstairs for more meditation, Don went to work on an invention he had brought along and Randall joined him.

It was a relaxing day. The blizzard had stopped by midnight.

Three days later, April and Casey came up to the house to visit. They had made it just in time for the New Year.

Training had resumed outside or to the barn. Randall still wasn't going outside much. Splinter had accepted that he didn't like the outdoors when it was cold out.

With winter in full swing, Randall was more than glad he didn't have a real job anymore. It was so hard on him to go outside at this time of year. He just got sick so easily in cold weather. He was keeping his sweater on full time at least. So did April.

The last day of the old year, the family and friends had training, played some games, had a special dinner, watched some movies, and later on, prepared some snacks for the countdown at midnight to the New Year.

At midnight, they watched the ball drop on TV in New York.

"Happy New Year!" They all said at the same time and threw some popourri and popcorn everywhere. They all laughed and April and Casey even shared a kiss. The brothers hugged one another. Randall backed off. That wasn't his thing, but he smiled.

"How about a high three instead?" Mikey asked.

"Sure." Randall said, and he and Mikey and Don shared high threes.

The excitement didn't last long. They cleaned up the mess and they went to bed.

 **Just a few chapters left, and are shorter. But just enjoy them. I tried my best.**


	34. Chapter 34

Winter seemed to drag on too long. The turtles soon returned before the next snowstorm hit.

Randall watched the blistering snow outside as another blizzard took hold of the city. Even the turtles stayed in their lair when it got this way outside, though they would do a couple of patrols during the week, provided it wasn't too cold for them.

Everyone was glad that they had things to do to occupy them inside in this cold wintry weather, with TV mostly being the entertainment.

When Randall felt like he needed someone to talk to, when not working, he would go upstairs and talk and hang out with April. She would let him hang out on her couch. They would even share cups of hot chocolate. It was the perfect drink for the coldest days.

April found that Randall was good company and he wasn't pushing romantic moves on her either. She loved him like another adopted brother. They were just friends.

Valentine's Day was coming up and she wondered what Casey had planned for them.

April did ask the guys if they knew anything of what Casey had planned and they said they had no idea. Casey had mentioned ideas to them, but what he wanted to do in the end would be all his own.

When it came to the romantic feelings between the two humans, Randall generally stayed away from them. He wasn't going to be the problem. No girl had ever wanted him before anyway.

One day, while hanging down in the lair, working on projects with Don, Mikey came in to stir things up a bit. "Can you hang out with me now, Randall. I've got an awesome new video game to be tried out."

"Mikey, I really need his help in finishing this camera for outside the lair." Don said.

Mike and Don seemed to be the ones that fought for his attention the most. Just for needing him for what they wanted or needed.

"Mike, if you want your home to be safe as possible, the security needs to be dealt with first. Games come second." Randall made it clear he was still busy. "Give me a little bit longer."

"Fine!"

Mikey hated to be ignored, but then, he just didn't fully understand the 'grownup' type of thinking all the time.

"How much longer is it going to take to finish the wiring?" Randall asked.

"Another hour at least." Don replied. "We just have to install it. It shouldn't take that long."

They had finished putting in the internal wires and now were going outside the lair to hook it up somewhere.

Mikey saw them leaving. "Don gets all the girls and now he gets my best friend to himself most of the time." He muttered.

"Mikey, you know that Randall is just as much a mechanic as what Don is. This is the best way he gets to fulfill that need." Leo said.

"I know. I just wish he would play with me."

"He will, when he gets back. He has just as much the adult type of thinking that we do. You just have a different type of thinking than we do."

"Yeah, and it makes it much more fun."

"I know I'm going nuts down here." Raph said.

"Can you play the game with me, Raph? It could give you something to do besides hit your punching bag." Mikey said.

"Fine."

Mikey was thrilled he got one of his brothers to play with him. Raph was just in it for some release of boredom.

It was another space fighters game. Meant for two players.

Once the game got going, it did seem to release both of Mike and Raph's boredom. It was fun. Mikey beat his brother at the high score. He was the video game champion.

When Don and Randall got back to the lair, Randall saw Mikey was already playing the game with someone else. He shrugged his shoulders. It wasn't that big a deal to him. He would just go back on working on other stuff.

"I can't hang out with him all the time." Randall said.

"It's hard for him to accept when we get busy sometimes that we have things to do to try to keep this lair safe." Don said.

"I know. I know he's been like that since I met him. But some of his childish nature is funny."

"For us, we grew up with him. We know most of his habits. He knows how to get us to cave to his needs and wants, although we don't always give in and that's where he might go and pull something that he shouldn't. Lucky this time that Raph must have been feeling bored enough to play with him." Don said.

"I think I give him enough of my attention."

"Of course you do. The video game isn't going anywhere. There will be a later time."

"I heard him say on the way out that you get all the girls and then you get me." Randall said.

Don blushed. "Yeah, I do tend to get girls' attention anytime we deal with others other than just April. And don't worry, there's nothing else going on in feelings. We're just brotherly friends."

"Good. I'm not in the ways of that trying. I never could score girls very well even when I tried to."

"There might be someone someday."

"I doubt it. No one likes reptiles."

"There are some that do, but yes, those numbers are so few."

They continued to work on more projects until dinner. Then after dinner, Don said Randall could play with Mikey.

Mikey was still disappointed about earlier, but he let Randall play with him. Raph was ready for his lifting weights before bedtime.

...

The next day was Valentine's Day and Casey wanted as much support from the guys as possible.

They tried to give him as much support as possible and Don gave him tips, from what he had read about.

There was a special restaurant uptown that April talked about a lot and he had reservations for dinner there. He put on a nice suit and made himself look nice. He even pulled his hair back. He got her some flowers.

When April answered the door, she was dressed in a red dress and had her coat ready to go.

"Thanks for the flowers, Casey." She said.

She went to put then in a vase before they took off.

"So where are we going?" She asked.

"It's a surprise. But I know you'll love it." Casey said.

Randall was invisible in the far corner back by the bathroom. He wasn't jealous, he was just observing. He saw the two humans leave and he unblended himself. He walked over to the window and saw them leave in April's van.

Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to have a girlfriend. He had spent the majority of his life alone. He was glad he had this new family, but it wasn't the same. But then, surely his friends felt the same way. How could they score females in this world?

And then, there was that other dimension that he remembered, Leonardo's friend, Usagi, that came from a world where animals instead of humans dominated their world. There could be chances of scoring females there. But that was a long shot chance at best. And there was his own world for himself, if he could find another one like himself perhaps, though reptile females were hard to come by.

But then, who said any female that loved you had to be the same species? The right one would come along when they came along.

Randall wasn't sure how long the turtles would live, but his kind could live a real long time. But then, some species of reptiles were also so long lived in the human world. He hoped they would be around for a long time.

 **Hope you all are enjoying this. Just one more left. Is there anyone who wants to see a sequel? I'd probably be able to come up with one, just would need time to think it up. But I would love to see those lovely reviews.**


	35. Chapter 35

Winter was getting closer to its end. It was still cold outside, but the temperatures were rising a bit more. Temperatures were now up in the 40's during the day, and 30's at night.

The turtles were starting to venture out in the early evenings before the temperatures fell to too cold. They were all way too restless down in the lair and were ready for spring weather. So was Randall. He wanted to run on the rooftops again too.

Randall hadn't given up on his training by a long shot. He still trained with the turtles when he came down at times and with April in her apartment. Just because he had been inside all winter didn't mean he was lazy by any means.

This had been the first winter Randall had been in that he had seen how bad the weather could get full force with snow. Winters back in his former world weren't even quite as bad as here in the human world.

When the calendar month changed once again, Randall looked at a certain date. It would be after spring arrived. It wasn't like he had ever gotten anything special on it from anyone who loved him. He growled.

Leo saw him looking at the calendar and walking away.

"What's wrong, Randall?" Leo asked.

"Nothing."

"There must be something that was making you upset. A certain date?"

"No. I'm just ready for warmer weather."

"So are we and it won't be long." Leo said.

"I'm fine, Leonardo." Randall just walked off to the kitchen for a soda out of the fridge.

Leo knew something was bothering the lizard. He went to talk to Mikey, as he knew Randall probably the best on a personal level, other than Don.

"Hey, Mikey, do you know of something going on with Randall?" Leo asked.

"No, why?"

"He seems down about something. He was looking at the month of March, since it's now March."

"Oh, I think I know what it is. His birthday is coming up on the 26th. He never had his birthday celebrated before." Mikey said.

Leo knew that would be a big time downer, to never have your birthday celebrated.

"Then how about we throw him a surprise party?" Leo said in a quiet voice.

"I'm all for it, big bro." Mikey said with a grin. Then they high threed each other.

Leo and Mikey told Raph, Splinter, and Don, plus April and Casey and LH they were going to plan a party for Randall. And he couldn't know until the night of the party.

Everyone began to help plan the party. There were some things they got real sneaky about behind his back.

Randall could try to find out if he wanted to, but he just kept himself busy. And whoever he was hanging out with, made sure to keep him busy while the others were all making sure to not give anything away.

The first day of spring finally came and it was warming up some more. Tonight was in the 50's.

Randall thought it was warm enough he would go on his first run with the turtles since before winter started.

That night, it felt good to get out and stretch his legs like that. They even ran into some Purple Dragons. And Randall even helped out in fighting them, as usual, in his invisible state. It was the best way he could.

During the week, everyone said they were ready for the party. Even if they didn't get gifts, they just wanted to show him how fun a birthday party could be. The party itself was a gift.

Don told her everything was ready. April got Randall's attention after her shift was over that day at the store. He had gone down to the basement when he was done, but she went down to get him.

"Hey, Randall. Do you want to go to the lair for dinner tonight?" She asked.

"Not really."

"Mikey cooked your favorite. Come on. It's not the same without you." She said.

Randall had wanted alone time tonight, but at her begging, he caved. "Alright, but I'm not staying there overnight."

"You don't have to. Just come on." April said.

It was in the 60s out today and they went out to her van. They headed for the warehouse.

Randall figured it was going to be like every other dinner he had gone down to. April texted they were there.

Down below ground, everyone was ready to spring a surprise.

There was a banner, balloons, a big cake, ice cream in the freezer, a dinner that was Randall's favorite, and just all his friends there.

April and Randall got in the elevator and went down. When the door opened, the lights were off.

"What's going on?" Randall asked.

The lights came on and there was a huge "SURPRISE!"

Randall was taken by surprise alright. He stumbled backwards into April's arms. His left upper hand held his chest.

She helped him to stand back up again.

The others laughed.

"We got ya, didn't we?" Mikey laughed.

"Yeah. What's all this for?" Randall asked. Then he saw the banner.

It read 'Happy Birthday, Randall!' in big purple words.

"A birthday party?" Randall asked.

"Yes. We know you've had a hard life and never had one celebrated. Why not now?" April said.

Randall didn't know what to say.

"How about we have the dinner that was made for you?" April said.

"I made the cake and the dinner." Mikey said.

Randall nodded.

They were all eating at the kitchen table that had been dragged out of the kitchen this time. Everyone that he was closest to was there. Just the turtle family, April and Casey, Splinter, and Leatherhead were all there to make this a good day for him.

Some chicken and noodles were some of Randall's favorite dinners, hence was served tonight as the main course. Some corn for others and some mashed potatoes. It was a good dinner.

Randall couldn't get enough of the chicken and noodles. But he knew he had to save some room for dessert, his own birthday cake.

There was the birthday song sung just for him, and he couldn't help but let tears come to his eyes, as he was happy and sad at the same time his friends were doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. His birthday had never meant that much to anyone but him before.

Everyone else celebrated their own special days, and now they were doing it for him.

The cake had his name on it and it was chocolate. There was also a choice of chocolate or vanilla ice cream. He definitely choose chocolate there too.

They all were served cake and ice cream and it was all amazing.

"Thank you all for making this a great day. This has just never been done for my birthday before." Randall said.

"You're welcome, Randall. We were happy to do this for you. Everyone deserves to have the day they were born celebrated." Splinter said.

"I wish it could have been done when I was a kid."

"What did they do on your birthday when you were a kid?" Casey asked.

"Treated it like every other day. I never got a cake. Sometimes I was lucky if I even got dinner."

"It sucks when you don't have a family that loves you." April said.

"No one in my world loved reptiles. I was lucky I survived at all." Randall said.

"Well, you have and it does make you a survivor. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Leo said.

"It sure has made us all that way." Raph said.

Randall could agree with that.

"Thanks for the party, everyone." Randall said. "This is the best present I have ever gotten on this day I was born."

The others were happy that Randall liked them throwing a party for him.

At last, he had a family that did truly care about him and there were always going to be trials and errors out here in the human world, but at least now, he didn't have to face such a hard life alone.

Randall still knew there was a chance of going back to the monster world, maybe one day, but he had such a wonderful life with these guys that he couldn't think of going back now. He wanted to stay with the ones that had taught him so much over the last several months. He had been with them for nearly a year and it had been a lot of lessons learned.

Randall wouldn't trade anything this new life for anything that it was like compared to back in his old world. This was his life now, full of a new family and friends that cared about him for who and what he was. And who had helped him to overcome some issues of his past, but there would always be some to deal with, possibly in the future.

The End

 **Does anyone think this is worth to have a sequel? If so, feel free to give ideas. I'm sure I can come up with one. But I hope you all enjoyed this. I sure did.**


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